Marauders Matchmaking Inc
by it's a riot
Summary: A Lily and James story. Lily needs to find a date to a wedding, and the Marauders cause a little commotion by pranking her dates out of jealousy and good intentions. Read up to see if these guys can bear the wrath of the Marauders... COMPLETE!
1. Not So Heaven Sent Invitation

**_Marauders Match-making Inc._****__**

A Lily and James story.  Based on the plot of the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date" with a few quirky twists.

This is my second fanfiction.  This is basically an A/U (Alternate Universe) fic, because it could never happen, according to the way JKR seems to be writing Lily and James's lives. (Oh… and no offense to anyone named Daisy.  I just liked the name.)

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**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.  NOTHING!  The characters you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling.  The plot this was based on belongs to the people who wrote the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date."  Once again, say it with me.  I.  Own.  Nothing.  Here.

**Chapter One:** The Heaven-Sent Invitation (Not!)

            Lily Evans sat comfortably in her one bedroom apartment, faithfully watching another re-run of her favorite television show.  Though this woman sitting in front of the TV. on a Saturday evening looked perfectly normal, looks can be deceiving.  She was a fully-trained witch and proud of it.

            Of course, what she wasn't proud of was that she had been lying in front of the television all day in her pajamas.  Sure, the phone had rung.  She didn't answer it.  It could be—don't say his name—him calling to see if she was okay.  Sure, she was okay.  She got dumped by her boyfriend everyday, so yeah, she was fine.  As if.

            Arrogant jerk, she thought, spooning more triple fudge ice cream into her mouth. 

            So he had wanted to break up with her.  Lily could accept that.  

            Kind of.

            What she couldn't accept was that he had dumped her for some blond-haired, blue-eyed, big-chested bimbo named _Daisy.  Lily shoved another spoonful in her mouth._

            What kind of name was Daisy, anyway?  If you were named that at birth, did that mean you got a size two body and snotty smile automatically?  So what if she was a healer and a model part-time.  Lily was a hit-witch for the Ministry.  Wasn't that just as good?

            Which reminded her…

            _I should have gone to work today, Lily thought.  She would have, but then Sirius had some to see her before work.  He had taken one look at her, and called in to work to tell them Lily was sick.  Lily would have laughed, if she wasn't in her present, depressing situation.  The Ministry wouldn't be pleased with her.  They needed all the help they could get, what, with Voldemort on the loose._

            Voldemort.  What a _psycho._  A _sick psycho.  Killing off all those innocent muggles for the fun of it.  How twisted was _that?__

And that's another thing.  The Order of the Phoenix meeting was tonight.  She had missed it by now, though.  Stupid break-ups.  They made you forget everything.

            Except your ex.

            The phone rang.  Lily let it go.  Let whatever that person had to say join the other fifteen calls she had already gotten.  Unanswered. 

            But the rings didn't stop.  Lily gave up.  Fine, fine, one phone call wouldn't _kill anyone._

            Unless it was from him.

            _That might kill her._

            She dropped the spoon into the ice cream carton and hoisted herself up to pick up the telephone.

            "Hello?" she answered tonelessly

            "Lily, darling.  How are you?" the voice on the other end perkily replied.

            Lily grimanced.  _Petunia.  Of all the people to be on the phone, it had to be her.  _

            Damn her conscience.  No more answering the telephone.  Only _very bad things can come from it._

            "Positively wonderful.  You?" she grumbled.

            Lily's tone must have gone unnoticed.  Either that, or ignored.

            "Perfect.  Guess what?"

            "What."

            "I'm getting married!" was the over-joyed reply.

            _What the—? Lily thought__.  How ironic.  When I break up, she get engaged.  Is the man upstairs doing this to **spite** me?_

            "Really?" was all Lily could say.

            "Yes, sister," she said.  If she hadn't noticed Lily's tone before, she sure had now.  Petunia sounded like she had just smelled something horrible in the air.  "Your invitation will come in the mail, but I just wanted to let you know.  The wedding will probably be in about 2 months."

            _Okay.  Stay calm, Lily. She didn't call to poke fun at you, she just wanted to tell you her happy news.  Be supportive._

            "Well… Congratulations!" Lily said, trying to sound _a little happy for her big sister, "By the way, how did you manage to get the wedding to be so early?  Don't you have to book the church _way_ in advance?"_

            "Let's just say Vernon knows someone," Petunia said happily.

            "Well, I hate to break this short," Lily lied, "but I really should get off the telephone."

            "Do you have a date?" Petunia asked, for once, not being cruel.

            "Kind of," If you count ice cream as a date, Lily added silently.

            "Oh," Petunia sounded amused, "You definitely should go then.  I can't wait to meet your 'mystery man.'  Bring him to the wedding!  Have fun, and talk to you soon, Lily."

            "Of course, Petunia. Good bye," Lily responded, hanging up the phone.

            So her sister was getting married.  _Wow._

            Horror struck in Lily's mind.

            _"Bring him to the wedding!"_

            Oh, no.


	2. Finding Mr Right by Asking Mr Wrong

**_Marauders Match-making Inc._**

***Thanks for the reviews.  You all are great.  Please keep reviewing and tell me what you want to see and what you think about it!  Thank you!           -Kait***

**Disclaimer:**  The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date."  The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books.  Alright with you then?

**Chapter Two:** Finding Mr. Right by Asking Mr. Wrong

            Lily glanced down.  She had run out of ice cream.  Lily peered at the front of the carton.  _One pint?__  What she _needed_ was one __gallon._

            She got up, went to the kitchen, and threw the box out.  Lily opened the freezer above her refrigerator.  She glanced inside, the cold air hitting her face refreshingly.  She frowned at all the ice cubes. 

            _No more ice cream, huh? _

            Then she walked back to the living room and opened the coat closet next to the door.  _I could always get more ice cream, she thought, pulling on her coat.  __The nearest market isn't that far.  I could walk there._

            Lily opened her apartment door and almost stumbled over—

            "_James?_" she said, stunned.

            "I was just about to knock," he said, a little surprised himself.

            He grinned at her, and ran his fingers through his hair.  He seemed to be carrying a grocery bag.

            "How are you?" he sounded concerned.

            Lily stood speechless in the doorway.

            "I saw Sirius at the Order meeting," he explained.

            Lily groaned, inviting him in.

            "So Sirius is spreading around to _all my ex-boyfriends that I'm single now?" Lily asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm._

            Just what she needed.  An ex-boyfriend to console her. 

            But then again, she and James had dated and broken up back during her Hogwarts days.  And since it was a mutual decision, they had been good friends since.  So technically, he was more of a friend than an ex.  _Right?_

            "No, just me.  It's because I'm special," James gloated.

            Lily snorted.

            "What?  Do you want them all to know.  _That_ long list of guys?"  he challenged, "Because I could pay them all visits."

            And he would too.

            "My list isn't half as long as _yours, Potter."_

            Her eyes met his briefly.

            "Point taken," he surrendered, and walked off into the kitchen.  Lily followed curiously.

            "So what's in the bag?" she asked as he set it on the counter.

            James smiled at her, and unveiled it like he was on a game show.

            "Your own free gallon of… _ice cream!"_

            "You know me so well,"  Lily said holding back a laugh.

            "Years of practice," he stated simply. "Now where are your spoons?"

            "Second drawer to the left," she went into living room and reached the television.  "Any movie preference?"

            "Yeah, nothing weepy," he said, bringing in the gallon of ice cream, and two huge soup spoons.

                                    -~-~-~-~-~-*-~-~-~-~-~-

            "If you weren't going to acknowledge my movie preference, then why did you even ask me?"  James asked Lily, his eyes glued to the television, grabbing a spoonful of ice cream.

            "I'll always love you!" the actress on the screen cried as her leading man left her in the rain.

            "To be polite," Lily replied, resuming her monotone voice again.

            It was half-way through the movie, and Lily hadn't watched any of it.  Sure, her glance was fixated on the TV, but her mind was on other things.

            "James, what am I going to do?" Lily sighed, exasperated from thinking too much.

            He tore his eyes away from the screen.

            "You mean without… _him?_"  After accidentally saying _his name a couple of times, James quickly learned _his _name was __evil._

            "No…about the wedding."

            "Wedding?"  She suddenly had _all of his attention.  James got up and turned off the movie.  "What wedding?"_

            "Petunia's wedding," Lily said as James plopped back down onto the couch.  She spooned herself more ice cream.  "She phoned be earlier, before you came.  She called to tell me her wedding's in _two months_."

            "Wow. Two months, huh?"

            Lily swallowed her mouthful and nodded.  "She knows someone."

            James felt confused.  "Oh… well, what's the problem?"

            "She wants me to bring my boyfriend to the wedding, too," Lily said, starting to feel stressed again.

            "So tell her you broke up with him," he responded immediately, wondering what the big deal was.

            "No way, James.  She will think I can't keep a boyfriend, since I always seem to be breaking up with one _every time we talk.  I can't!"_

            "So then stop talking to Petunia.  Maybe you will keep your boyfriends," James grinned jokingly.

            "Right.  No more coming to you with my problems," she replied, not amused.

            "Bring a friend with you to pose as your boyfriend," James recommended, trying to be helpful now.  "Bring me.  I'll fake my _'undying love' for you."_

            He moved closer to Lily, and playfully put his arm around her, raising his eyebrow suggestively.  

            Lily swatted his arm away, and glared at him.  Then she took back the glare and almost laughed again.

            "That could work, only she knows you.  I've mentioned that we broke up."

            "So we couldn't get back together?" he said, making sad-puppy eyes at her.

            "Petunia won't believe that.  Even if she stupid, she not _that stupid."_

            "Okay… what about Remus?"

            "Ex-boyfriend, remember?"

            "Oh, yeah.  Where was I during that?"

            "Probably pulling a prank on the Slytherins with Sirius, would be my guess,"  she said with a laugh.

            Lily dumped the two spoons in the empty ice cream container and took it to the kitchen.  She tossed the spoons in the sink, and the ice cream in the garbage.

            "Sirius?" James called from the other room.

            "Petunia, the purple-haired bride, and a dead Lily mean anything to you?" she called back.

            "Peter?"

            "Are you kidding?"

            "No?" he asked hopefully.

            "How are his manners?"

            Lily came back from the kitchen and joined James on the comfy sofa.

            "Frank?"

            "Married."

            "Oops," James racked his brain for single men.  Never in a million years did he think he'd be doing _that_. "Chris?"

            "Too honest.  He'd tell Petunia even if we duck taped his mouth."

            "Snape?" James grinned wickedly, waiting for Lily's reaction.

            Pure disgust.

            "No offense but—"

            "No need to elaborate, Lily," James said, "I agree completely."

            Lily stopped, not wanting him to go on.  When it came to James, he could come up with anyone, after he listed down Snape.  Who knows?  Next he'd probably suggest Malfoy!

            "James.  Stop.  Now."  Lily ordered, finally coming out of her funk to tell James off, "There is no way you are going to set me up with someone.  I'll suit myself, thank you very much."

            "Fine.  I won't  help you then." James said in mock disappointment, smiling mischievously.   But if you took a trip into James's brain, you'd realize the last thing he wanted Lily to do is find a new boyfriend.  He'd hated the last fifteen guys since himself enough.  He wasn't about to let her get away again.

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**                        Please review, and tell me what you thought of this chapter.**


	3. There’s Always More Fish in the Sea

**_Marauders Match-making Inc._**

*** This chapter should be a little more interesting.  Please do review, and tell all your friends about this story.  LoL.  Thanks for all the reviews I've already gotten.  I love hearing from you guys.**

**             -Kait***

**Disclaimer:**  The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date."  The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books.  Alright with you then?

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**Chapter 3-** There's Always More Fish in the Sea

            "Good to see you decided to come to work, Evans.  You've used your sick days up this month," Cornelius Fudge told her snottily.  The junior hit-wizard in training was working at the reception desk today.

            Stupid kid, she thought.  Lily really wanted to slap him right now, but she settled for a simple comeback.

            "At least I'm not a workaholic whose dream is to be the Minster, which is never going to happen."

            She let her grin slide into a playful smile.

            Fudge smirked, and tipped his hat.  "It's nice to have you back."

            "It always is, Fudge." Lily laughed and signed in, passing by him.

            She was definitely happy to be back at work.  All that moping around had gotten a little old after a while.

            Well…it would get her mind off of _him_ and the _wedding_.

            She continued to walk down the hallway towards her office, feeling as though she'd rather go home and continue to eat those 2 gallons of ice cream a day.  But the only problem with that is that she would get fat and not be able to get a date to her sister's wedding.

            Damn shallow men.

            "Lily!"  A voice rang out behind her, practically echoing down the hall, "Lily, hold up!"

            She stopped and twisted around to see a friend of hers by the name for Marcia Grunwich.  Marcia was frantically running towards Lily, waving her arms to her associate.

            "Hey Lil.  Where have you been for the past two days?  I've been trying to call your house the whole time, but no one answered.  Did you go on some kind of surprise vacation with your boyfriend?"  

            Lily stood in silence.  Marcia had mentioned _him.  And just when she thought that maybe her day wouldn't be so horrible._

            Okay, so she had always thought it would be horrible, but she didn't feel like admitting it.  People said that, "Admitting you have a problem is the first step."  How wrong that saying was.

            Going into denial and eating twice your weight was _always_ the first step in Lily's book.

            "Uh…" Lily began, not really wanting to tell her the truth, "Actually we broke up."

            Marcia had never looked guiltier in her life, even if she could have tried.

            "Oh my gosh… I'm so sorry, Lily." She replied, uncertain of what to say next.

            "No…really…It's okay.  I'm fine," Lily forced a smile, "Honest."

            _Liar, liar, pants on fire, she thought to herself._

            "Are you sure?"

            "Yeah, of course."

            _Liar, liar…_

_            Shut up, already!  _She thought angrily in response to the voices in her head.

            "Okay…well, I wanted to tell you that I have a reservation at L' Amour Masque, and if you want to go, I could make the number three, instead of two," she said, raising one eyebrow jokingly, and smiling.

            "You mean, you made a reservation for a party of four, intending to ask me to come and find a date, right?"  Lily replied, laughing a little, finding the hidden meaning instantly.

            She knew Marcia all to well.

            "Well…yes, I suppose."

            "So who's the big-shot you finally got the courage to ask out?  Sirius, Michael, Randy, Matthew, Robert, or Stanley?"

            "Just a face I think you'll recognize by the name of _James Potter!"  Marcia exclaimed, looking extremely pleased with herself._

            "_Really?" Lily said incredulously, "__When, and where in the name of God was I?"_

            "Last week, Saturday."

            "Why didn't call me?" Lily asked, not believing that her friend would leave her hanging like this.

            "I did try calling you.  On the weekend, when you weren't answering your telephone," she replied, "Not that I blame you, or anything."

            "Oh…" 

            "So do you want to come with us?" Marcia asked, as they began to finally walk down the hall, after receiving many dirty looks from Ministry officials who thought they were completely blocking the hallway.  

            _Couldn't they see that this was important news that deserved a blocked hallway, if necessary?_

            "I guess not.  I mean, where would I find a date?"  Lily questioned Marcia, wondering.

            "Lily," she said, taking Lily's head in her hands, and turning it forward, away from its former position of looking at her, "Look down this hall.  Do you not see all the guys filling this hallway?  You could easily pick one, and ask him out."

            "Yeah, I see them, but how do I pick?"  Lily said, feeling repetitive.

            _Is she even **hearing me?**_

            Then, at that exact moment, Cornelius Fudge chose to barge through Lily and Marcia, with a metal cart stacked full of papers.

            "Excuse me, excuse me, important papers coming through.  They are extremely vital for the well-being of the Minister…. Excuse me, excuse me…"

            "Ow!"  Lily said loudly, having been jabbed in the back with a point on the cart.

            "Sorry, Miss," Fudge called, continuing down the hall.

            Marcia looked at Lily, and smiled.

            "How about him?"

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            "She's going on a double date with you and Marcia?" Peter asked James later, when they had met up at the Leaky Cauldron.  Both Sirius and Remus were busy.  Remus' excuse being the full moon, and Sirius had an evening assignment at the ministry.

            "Yep.  And that's not the worst part," James said him, leaning closer, "She's going with _Cornelius Fudge_."

            "_Really?  Wow.  Lily sure knows how to pick the wrong ones,"  Peter replied, chuckling to himself a bit._

            "No kidding," James answered back, taking a swig of his drink.

            "So what are you going to do, Prongs?" Peter asked him, sensing that his friend had some plan up his sleeve.

            "Not sure yet, but something."

            "You mean like sabotage?" Peter inquired curiously.

            "Exactly like sabotage," James responded, blankly staring at the bar.

            "So you haven't got a plan yet?"

            "None whatsoever," was the blank reply.

            "What about playing a prank on Fudge?   Just like old days?"  Peter suggested to him, taking a sip of his own drink.

            "Have you got anything in mind?" James asked, perking up instantly, giving Peter all of his attention.

            "I do think an old muggle joke might come in handy here…"  Peter said, grinning evilly.

            "I always knew that there was something I liked about you, Wormtail," James smiled the way he hadn't smiled since his days at Hogwarts.

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**Review, review, review!**

           


	4. The First Trial and Error

**_Marauders Match-making Inc._**

***…And this is the chapter you've all been waiting for! *grins evilly*   Sorry it took so long.  I was quite sure how to put my idea into words. I just have a few things to say:**

**To answer your review, Katy (Grimm Sister) — James accepted the date with Marcia _before_ he knew Lily had broken up with her boyfriend.  The way I'm writing James, he wouldn't have said yes to Marcia, had he known Lily had broken up with her boyfriend.  I was actually thinking the same thing you were thinking when I made sure James accepted the date before he knew about Lily's break up… and remember, Lily is happy that her friend got a date with James because right now she has no feelings for James other than "friend" feelings.  Besides, I've got the whole Marcia/James thing worked out, so don't worry about it.**

**And Katy, I'll be reading your story as soon as I find the time.  I will also read yours too, Dani, when I can, and if you still want me too, I'll write a summary.**

**Thanks for everyone else for your comments.  Most people have said that Lily dating Cornelius is just wrong.  Personally, I agree, but my instinct to pull fun twists into this story overruled my disgust.  LoL.  I think it was Missy who said that the whole Fudge thing was interesting.  That's pretty optimistic of you.  Cool. **

**Oh, and anyone who takes French, did you notice the name of the restaurant?  I named it that, purposely.  If you don't know what it means, go to freetranslation.com…and enter the name in the French****àEnglish column.**

_OR_** I suppose I could be nice and tell you that the restaurant's name in English means "The Masked Love."  Hmm…I wonder why I chose that name?   ;^D**

**LoL****.****  Thanks for the reviews.  Keep them coming, please.**

**By the way…I'm sorry if this chapter seemed to outlandish, or short.  I just wanted to get it out to you.**

** -Kait***

**Disclaimer:** The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me, are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter 4**- The First Trial and Error

            "So, James, do you have everything you need?"  Peter asked him, in the front hall at James' house, the night of the "big date."

            "Yeah, Peter," he replied for the hundredth time, getting sick of answering the same questions over and over again.

            "Then you have the pepper I gave you?"

            James looked incredibly exasperated as he straightened his shirt collar in the mirror, and began to tackle the tricky task of getting his hair to lie flat.

            "Wormtail…I'm sure I don't _need the pepper.  It is a restaurant, and I've never been to a restaurant that __didn't have pepper there for you to use for free."_

            "But what if they don't?  It is a _French restaurant," he said, still pushing the idea of bring-your-own pepper, as he picked it up off of the table next to the lavishly designed mirror. _

            "Fine, Peter, I'll take the pepper with me," James agreed, giving in for the heck of it, and grabbing the pepper shaker from his friend's hand.  Then he shook some into his hand and stuffed it down into his pocket.  The rest that didn't reach his pockets sprinkled aimlessly onto in oriental rug.  James surrendered the pepper back into Peter's palm, and continued to try and style his hair.

            "Okay…that's one way to go about it, Prongs."

            James rolled his eyes mockingly.

            "Individuality is everything, Peter," James said smiling, just to annoy him.  Then he seized his jacket from the coat hanger, and started out the door.  "See you later, Peter!"

            "What am I supposed to do while you—"

            The ornate door was unintentionally slammed in his wake.

                                    -~-~-~-~-~-*-~-~-~-~-~-

            "James?  Why do you smell so oddly?"

            That was the first thing Marcia had said to James when they sat down in the restaurant.  She had been very distracted with James' oddly distant behavior.  She couldn't see how one person could go from funny and charming, to acting completely remote in less than twenty-four hours.  It was as though he was a different person.

            James glimpsed at the table for a moment.  _Stupid Peter, there **is pepper on the table.  It's right next to the red candles, and roses, like it should be.**_

             "New cologne," James said plainly, looking at the door to the restaurant like it was about to fly away.

            Marcia fiddled with the fancy, red table-cloth as she pondered what to say next.  You would think that a normally chatty person would never run out of things to say, but Marcia had.  She'd used all her conversation starters on the way to the café.  They had worked just as well as they were working now…

            …_Not at all._

            _So…am I supposed to make more small talk, or wait for him to break the ice, she thought as she stared at James, who was still glancing in the direction of the door._

            He took a look at Marcia, then a look back at the entryway.  He peeked again at Marcia, and then back at the door, Marcia, door, Marcia….

            _Nope, she thought again to herself, __I believe it's high time James stepped in and spoke in more than **one word answers!**_

After a few silent minutes passed by, Marcia sighed, and looked at James.  Hearing her sigh, he had enough decency to glimpse away from the entryway, and at Marcia.  She sent him an encouraging smile, and he grinned sheepishly back at her.

            "So how has work been?"  He asked her, taking the hint, and focusing all his attention on her.  After all, he was no dummy.

            That was Peter's job.

            "Not bad… though I suppose things could be better," she said, smiling quietly, "But then again, with Voldemort around—"

            "Hey Marica, James," Lily's voice interrupted, not knowing that she had just single-handedly ruined their attempt at any conversation.  

            She, and her date, Cornelius Fudge (whom James still couldn't believe she had asked to come with her on a _date_, of all things), had just entered L' Amour Masque, smiling, and greeting the seated couple, as they were led by the waiter to the table.

            _Wow…that waiter isn't half bad on the eyes,  Lily thought to herself as she approached the pair with Cornelius.  __Wait!  What am I saying?  I'm here with Cornelius, and **I asked ****him, so I can't look at other men.  Though, can I say that James looks very handsome tonight.  Just like when I used to go out with him.**_

These thoughts set off a smile on Lily's face, as Cornelius pulled out her chair, and Lily sat down.  Then Cornelius engaged James in a conversation he did not want to be a part of, business at the ministry. 

            "You look wonderful, Marcia," Lily stated quietly as she sat next to her, admiring her floral blue skirt and powder blue, v-necked, blouse.  The outfit set off her golden locks beautifully.

            "Not so bad yourself, Lils," she whispered back, gesturing to her simple black dress, that stopped just above her knees, accompanied by a silver necklace, with a single ruby.

            "What can we say, we clean up well!" Lily said softly back to her friend, and let out a little laugh, "As do James, and Cornelius, and he actually turned out better than I thought he would!"

            "See, it wasn't as bad as you considered it would be!" Marcia replied and giggled back, pulling an 'I-told-you-so.'  

            Lily just let it slide, for once.

            The waiter returned, almost instantly, saving James from the unwanted discussion with Cornelius.

            "Here are your menus.  I will be back when you are ready to order."

            "Alright, thank you," James said, waving him off.

            They all looked through the menus, translating the French to English for one another.  So finally when the waiter came back, they all were ready to order.

            Once their orders had been placed, Cornelius dismissed himself from the table momentarily.

            "I just need to use the loo for a second," he said, excusing himself, and got up to walk away. Then he started again shyly, "I'll be right back, Lily."

            Two people had completely different thoughts at the same time.

            _Great.__  Now I'm a potential third wheel._

_            Great.  This is the perfect opportunity to put Operation'Marauders' Matchmaking' into affect.  Hey, that's catchy._

            And the only guy left at the table, discreetly sprinkled all the pepper in his pockets into the napkin of the man that had been sitting next to him.

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            The food arrived, and James was thoroughly disappointed with the results of his mission thus far.  Although, when Cornelius had come back he had put the napkin in his lap, and hadn't touched it since.

            It was clearly evident anyway that Cornelius and Lily weren't working out so well, anyway.  They disagreed on almost everything, and had nothing in common except for the fact that they worked at the same place.  And when Cornelius had found out Lily was a muggle-born, he had become a little distant.  He tried to seem interested, but Lily could tell he wanted the date to end soon.  Well…maybe not…but that was sure how Lily felt!

            While talking, he got a little bit of sauce on his nose from his baguette.  He wiped it off quickly.

            Suddenly, Cornelius was hit with the worst sneezing fit anyone in the restaurant had every seen.  

            James had to stifle a laugh, as the girls politely said, "God bless you."

            "God bless you."

            "God bless you"

            "God bless you"

            _"God bless you!"_

"Are you _alright_, Cornelius?" Lily asked, concerned, touching his arm.

            Lily touching Fudge's arm bothered James.  

            A lot.

            He wanted to burn a hole through Fudge's arm.  

            But he had to admit, Peter's plan was brilliant.

            It had worked, which was a near miracle for Peter.

            Unfortunately, when Cornelius' sneezing died down, he pulled his napkin to his face to blow into it.  It was a poor decision, in James' opinion.

            The sneezing persisted on loudly.

            "I think we had ought to get you home, Cornelius,"  Lily said, taking the matter into her own hands, "You might be sick."

            "I—sneeze—suppose—" he replied.

            "Come'on," she said, helping him up, and handing him a tissue, "Thank you for the dinner, James, Marcia.  I'll see you later, okay?"

            "Okay.  Bye Lily, bye Cornelius.  Feel better, okay?" Marcia said, frowning.

            "Bye.  Feel better," James echoed, as the pair left the restaurant.

            _I'll have to get that napkin as a souvenir, James thought, grinning to himself._

                        __


	5. Sirius the Male Matchmaker

**_Marauders Match-making Inc._****__**

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***Hey!**

**            Here's the I-took-forever-to-write-it chapter, that has been long overdue for you guys.  Thanks for being so patient.  It turned out _nothing_ like I thought it would but oh well, I guess.  I hope you like it.  Keep reviewing!!  I love hearing what ya'll have to say!**

**            Dani— I'll try and finish your story soon.  I just haven't had any time to read (or write) lately.             **

**            Same goes for Katy.  I _am_ reading your fic…just at a _very_ slow pace.**

**            LoL.**

**            Gillian— I know what you mean about James being so close to Peter is disturbing, but in real life, I don't ignore one of my best friends.  Once again, it's like that Cornelius/Lily thing I had going on…My will to write weird stuff wins over my disgust.  And also, Remus will be included in this story later on.  This is only because…well…because I want to.  LoL.  It's fun to be the author.**

**            For the next prank, I'm planning something a little more…well…intelligent and complicated than the pepper trick.**

**            Just a heads up for ya.  Thanks for reading!**

**                        -Kait***

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**Disclaimer:** The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me, are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?  Oh yeah, and the song Sirius…well…has fun with….is from Fiddler on the Roof, which is an _awesome _musical by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.  Go see it.  You know you want to. 

**Chapter 5**- Sirius, the Male Match-maker

            "How did your date go the other night?"

            As she stood on the door step, someone opening the door for her, Lily glared at none other than Sirius Black, her known annoyance and good friend.  She figured he had probably known how her date had gone before he had even entered Davy Gudgeon's house for tonight's Order of the Phoenix Meeting.

            It irritated Lily how Sirius knew about her private life before she even _understood parts of it.  For this, she sent him another frosted glance._

            "That well, huh?" Sirius smiled, trying to make light of the situation, as she walked past him in a huff.

            "In my dreams." Lily replied, angrily rolling her eyes.

            "So Cornelius Fudge isn't your _dream man_?" Sirius asked, following her, trying to provoke her to see just what she would do.

            She just looked at him.  

            "Apparently not."

            They ceased conversation for a moment, and found their way into the dining room.  It was quaint, furnished with a long oval table, and sixteen chairs strategically placed facing a single chair, the chair Albus Dumbledore usually was seated in.  Lily and Sirius took seats close to Dumbledore's, as not many people were present yet, so they would be able to hear better when he gave announcements and information from spies, later in the gathering.

            They settled in their chairs, and began talking again.

            "So," Sirius said, "Marcia tells me that you are looking for a guy to take to a wedding."

            "I only told Marcia yesterday," Lily seemed to complain, staring him down, "How do you know already?"

            "What can I say?" A shameless little smile was playing on his lips, "Word travels fast around here."

            "I'll say," she agreed, crossing her arms over her chest and sinking in her seat, "Do you all have some kind of secret code or tracking device on my life?"

            "Nooo…" Sirius answered, purposely trying to sound suspicious, "Why would to think that?"

            "I hate you, Black." Lily stated feeling very aggravated with her whole situation.  "You know that?"

            "I knew that the first time I met you," he smiled with laughter showing in his eyes, "I saw the hatred in you eyes," 

             "But anyway," he continued, "What's the huge rush in finding a date for a wedding that's in two months or so?"

            What really _was_ the rush, Lily thought to herself.  

            She knew why she was trying to find a date now, but she wasn't sure how to explain it.  It made sense in her mind and it seemed rational when she told it to Marcia, but how was she to make it clear for _Sirius_…of _all people…what she felt._

            "I just…I don't know…I want to go to the wedding with someone I can trust, someone…I have an established relationship with.  Like a boyfriend…I suppose you could say, right?  Well…there's also the fact that all those…married, old people guests will look at me and my date as…well, for lack of better words, the next to…you know, tie the knot… and that's probably because it's my sister's wedding.  Plus, she'll keep the hawk-eye on my date and I…in case, ahh…something should…happen.  And she'll scrutinize everything about the guy I go with, so I have to come up with someone better than 'her Vernon.'  It's all just insane."

            She took a much needed deep breath, and then started again to prove herself further.

            "And everyone knows you can't just bring anyone to a wedding.  You have to have been going out with them for a while and all, and you can't ask someone to come last minute. So…"

            Lily felt like she was concluding this very lamely.  Apparently Sirius caught this too.

            "Anything else to add, Lils?"

            She sighed, grudgingly.

            "Also, I told my sister I have a boyfriend."

            "I knew there was a reason in there somewhere," Sirius laughed, "So why don't you just pay me to take you?"

            "I'd have to _pay you_ to take me?" Lily asked, incredulously, sitting up straighter in her chair and raising her eyebrows, "I certainly hope that's not the case, Black."

            "It's not," he grinned, "I'm just joking with you."

            She only looked slightly amused.

            "Well ha-ha."

            "But you do look like you need some help from—" he stood up majestically, clearly just trying to change the subject and put his hands on his hips in imitation of Superman, "—Sirius, the Male Match-maker!"

            Lily just stared at him, in complete shock.  He couldn't make a match to save his life.  He had dated more girls at Hogwarts then Lily had ever imagined.  Sirius couldn't tell a blonde from a brunette some days, so how could he find the right guy for Lily?

            But then again, would she have suspected anything _less_ from Sirius?

            _Never.___

_            What is he thinking?  _

_            No—what **possessed him?**_

"Sirius, what the hell are you on?" Lily asked him, frowning and yet trying to fight back the urge to laugh.

            If she had any doubts about Sirius's comment, her fears were confirmed when he plastered a cheesy grin on his face and started to burst into song. 

_            "**Matchmaker, Matchmaker,  
            Make me a match,  
            Find me a find,  
            catch me a catch  
            Matchmaker, Matchmaker  
            Look through your book,"**_

He sang winking at her,_ "**And make me a perfect match!**"_

            Lily fell back into her chair in uncontrollable laughter.  The only thing that could have made that worse was if it had had a little dance to go with it.  Although, Lily was guessing that that would be the next thing Sirius would proceed in doing.

            "My theme song," Sirius announced, striking a random pose with jazz hands and then glancing at her looking insulted, "Hey!  It wasn't _that_ funny!"

            Lily just continued to giggle, attempting to calm herself down.  Once she had, she managed to say, "You've….you've…been watching the…musical channel…on television again….haven't you?

            "Only at James's house," Sirius said defensively, seating himself in his chair once more, "And only a couple times…"

            Lily just laughed again, staring at Sirius in amazement.  Then she decided it would be better if she just let him be.  She excused herself from him and made her way into the kitchen.

            In the breakfast nook, she spotted Davy Gudgeon, reading the _Daily Prophet with a very content look on his face._

            "Hey, Davy," Lily said pulling up a chair across from his and greeting the boy she had known since Hogwarts.  His light brown hair fell into his blue eyes as he looked up at Lily, giving her a shy grin.

            "Hi, Lily," he said, putting the paper down, "How…how are you?"

            Sirius watched from the dining room as Lily laughed with Davy.  He smiled to himself, and thought of the plans James had just told him about last night.

            "Date number two, here we go," he muttered to himself, as he entered the room, becoming 'Sirius, the Male Matchmaker.'


	6. The Maturity of a Nine Year Old

**_Marauders Match-making Inc._**

**            *Hullo, everyone.**

**            Well…I kind of messed up the characters in the story (Davy Gugdeon isn't in the Order of the Phoenix) but hey…that's partly why this story is A/U and doesn't follow OotP.  It's alright though.  I kind of like it.  LoL.**

**            And yup, now you get to find out why Davy seemed so familiar.  It's because he's mentioned in the Harry Potter books.  I think all the guys Lily dates are going to be real characters from HP books.  Don't take that to heart though, because I could be lying.  I don't know yet. **

**            Well…I started this chapter the day after I updated the story with the fifth chapter, so…I hope this is up to your standards.**

            **_Candidus-Astrum: About the whole italics and bold, well if you write this on MICROSOFT WORD, when you save the chapter on Microsoft Word, where it says "_Save as type:" _save the chapter as a WEB PAGE, not a Word Document, like it's listed as.  That should give you all your italics and bold stuff…okay?___**

**            Someone said (I think it was Lalila) that James and Sirius seem _evil.  That's not really how I meant them to come off.  James is…well…James is jealous, and Sirius is just a loyal friend, who's helping James out.  Plus, I get the vibe that he's a little overprotective off Lily (as in…he doesn't want her to end up with someone who isn't right for her).  But still…they both are sly, sneaky and mischievous, which is what makes them the Marauders.  _**

**            And regarding their sneakiness…there might be a little confusion with "Charlie" (aka James) and "Henry" (aka Sirius).  LoL…Maybe that will clear it up.**

**            People keep talking about Remus, too, in their reviews.  Be patient, Remus is just preoccupied with other things at the moment.  He'll come around (and try and put James and Sirius in their place).  Maybe he'll even be in this chapter…Who knows?  **

**            (Oh, wait…_I know…just kidding, I don't mean to sound snotty…LoL, like I said…It's good to be the author)_**

**                        -Kait*  **

**Disclaimer:** The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me, are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?  

**Chapter 6**- The Maturity of a Nine-year-old

            Lily sat at the Leaky Cauldron wondering how she'd gotten there.  _Damn, Sirius_, she thought to herself, S_etting_ me and Davy up.  What was he thinking?__

Of course, after Davy had asked her out, she couldn't very well say _no,_ could she?  Especially after that speech Sirius gave about her having a huge crush on Davy while she was at Hogwarts.  This actually had held true, until she witnessed him trying to get past the Whomping Willow in 3rd year.   _I mean, how crazy can one person get?_

            But she supposed she should put this behind her.  After all, Lily was the one who had told Sirius that she needed a date.  Wait.  Had she told him or had Marcia?

            Eh, it didn't matter.

            Either way, she was still stuck going on this date.

            _It wouldn't be so bad though, she guessed.  He was willing to do anything Lily wanted to, so she had suggested the movies.  _

            She supposed it might even be fun, since he had never been to a movie before and he had been eager to go.

            Lily smiled to herself.  _Yes, maybe this wouldn't be completely horrible, after all._

                                                -~-~-~-~-~-*-~-~-~-~-~-

            _The Day Before…_

            "So you set her up with _Davy Gudgeon?_" James asked Sirius in disbelief, "Are you thick?"

            Sirius sat uncomfortably in an armchair, in front of the fireplace at James' house. Remus, Peter, and James sat before him.  He just grinned sheepishly at them.

            "I dunno, Prongs.  Davy could be good for Lily.  She needs to date to figure out what a _prat_ her old boyfriend was," Remus replied from his chair, having just listened to James and Sirius ramble on about breaking Lily and her date up.  "And what do you have against Davy?"

            James started to open his mouth to speak.

            "Other than the fact that you two dared him to have a go at the Whomping Willow, James and that it got you in trouble," Remus interrupted his thoughts, looking over at James and Sirius with a serious glance.

            "Nothing, I guess," Sirius chimed in, when James refused to speak.

            "So then why go after him?  What are you gaining?"

            "The satisfaction of a job well done?" Sirius joked, grinning at Remus and trying to keep him from getting upset.

            "No (and that means a whole lot coming from the one that set them up)," Remus sighed, wanting James's conscience to come into play here, "Don't you think Lily can take care of herself?"

            James just looked at him, in complete surprise.

            "Of course Lily can take care of herself.  We all know that."

            Everyone looked out the window and nodded in mutual agreement.  Lily could _definitely take care of herself.  That girl was like "super-witch."_

            Part human.  Part witch.

            And totally petrifying when she wanted to be.

            "Then what are you trying to do, Prongs?" Remus asked him, almost challenging him to speak, as he looked back at him, not breaking eye contact.

            James simply glanced at him and then back out the window, where he could see snowflakes softly hitting the ground.

            "I don't know."

            Well, Remus sure knew how to bust their bubble and make them feel guilty.  Not one person in the room could bring themselves to look Remus in the face.  But even if he felt guilty, James wasn't about to ruin his chances with Lily. _(A/N- selfish, I know, but a guy's gotta do, what a guy's gotta do)_

            "So are you in, or not?" James inquired plainly, staring at the floor and the carpet in front of the fire feeling very remorseful for putting his friends in a situation to choose.  Normally he wouldn't do this, but Lily normally didn't drive him so bloody insane. 

            And James would do anything for Lily. 

            "I'm in," Sirius said quietly, not even bothering to crack a laughing smile, for once.

            "Me too," Peter replied, looking at the mug of hot chocolate in his hands.

            "Not me," Remus stated, starting to get up from his seat, "I refuse to take advantage of Lily in that way."

            They watched as Remus went to the front hall and got his winter coat from its place on the coat hanger.  Then he returned to the room, appearing to be very grave.  He raised his hand to apparate out of the house when—

            "Remus, wait," James said, sending his friend a pleading look and getting up from his own chair, "I'm not doing this to advantage of Lily or hurt her or anything…And we really could use your help."

            He just sighed; Remus did, and glanced up at the ceiling.

            "It's not that I don't want to help you…it's just…." He stopped briefly, at a loss for words, "Well….when you come up with a better reason call me, okay?"

            "Remus—don't—" Sirius started to say.

            And with that, Remus apparated to his own home.

            "Great…now what are we going to do?" James asked his remaining friends, looking at them sadly.

            "Put on a smile and laugh at the world—?" Sirius asked, once again trying to make light of the situation, as he got up from his seat and joined James.

            "That's kind of a nine-year-old thing to do…" Peter said, staying in his own armchair and taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

            "What did you say, Wormtail?" James asked, a spark suddenly lighting in his eyes.

            "I said, 'That's kind of a nine-year-old thing to do'…" Peter trailed off again, stirring his cup.  "And _where are you going with this?"_

            "Sirius, where did you say they're going again?" James asked, not meaning to but ignoring Peter, his mind working overboard as he paced through the room ending up back at his armchair where he sat down.

            "Uhh…you mean Lily and Davy?" 

            James nodded.

            "Oh, well…they're going to the movies, I think.  Yeah, because Lily said it was that new one down on 34th and Prospect.  Where ever _that is…" Sirius said, shaking his head at the muggle parts of London and sitting down next to James.  "Although, they agreed to meet up at the Leaky Cauldron beforehand at like five o'clock."_

             "Alright," James said, taking in all the new information he had received, "I think…I…yes…I think I have a plan."

                                           -~-~-~-~-~-*-~-~-~-~-~-

            _Back to the Present…_

            Lily walked through the entry doors of the movie theater with Davy and had to admit, the date wasn't going too badly after all.  He seemed like an agreeable person, maybe _too willing to please at times, but it wasn't so bad.  He appeared to be a very sweet person for the most part and Lily was enjoying herself._

            She led Davy through the ticket booth, the concession stand and into the theater without noticing two men following her, of whom she would have found very familiar had she turned around.

            "James and Sirius have entered the building!" Sirius called as James paid for the tickets, using his skills from Muggle Studies.

            "Shh!" James said to him, pulling at his sleeve, "_We don't want Lily to see us!_"

            The man at the ticket booth looked very warily of letting them in.

            "Uh…he has a—," James paused for a second, pointing at Sirius, "—problem with blurting out random tangents." 

            Sirius looked very insulted, as he arched his eyebrows at James, questioningly.

            The guy in the red vest who held their tickets just nodded and let them through, "Please try and keep him under control."

            "Yes, of course," James replied, grinning at him, "I will."

            As they walked through the doors and headed to the concession stand a few places behind Lily and Davy, you could hear Sirius mutter under his breath, "You suck, James."

            "I'm not the one with the 'random tangents' problem remember?" James said, smiling at him and laughing a bit. "I've got myself under control."

            An incoherent "I hate you" could be heard from Sirius's lips.  This just made James grin some more.

            He watched as Lily and Davy departed from them, finding their way into Theater 8.  Then it was their turn to order.

            "Can I help you?" the teenage girl behind the counter asked, giggling a bit at the two hot young guys who stood before her, smiling at her.

            "Sure," Sirius grinned, sending her a flirtatious glance, "We'll have some gummy bears, Tootsie Rolls, Snickers, pretzel bites, and a large Coke."  Then he glimpsed back at James. "Anything for you, mate?"

            James beamed at the girl, "I'll just have a large popcorn."

            As the girl went off to get their food James felt it necessary to address his friend.

            "I hope you have a large bit of money to pay for that huge lot," he smirked, as she brought back the popcorn and the gummy bears and then going off to fetch the rest.

            Sirius turned an odd shade of white.

            James sighed at him, shaking his head.  

            "No worries, Padfoot. I've got you covered,"

                                            -~-~-~-~-~-*-~-~-~-~-~-

            Upon entering the theater, Sirius and James found themselves almost in a sticky situation.  A couple of young boys thought it would be funny to pour popcorn on the unsuspecting heads of adults.  Fortunately (for the boys), James and Sirius were narrowly missed as the boys dropped the buttery mixture on the man and woman that had gone into the theater before them.

            "Cheap muggle prank," Sirius whispered to James, laughing a bit, "But affective, I suppose."

            James just grinned at him, remembering their own silly pranks when they were at Hogwarts.

            "Lucky they missed us," Sirius smirked, "Because I would have retaliated."

            And he would have, too.

            Thus, this gave James a thought.

            "Padfoot…." He said, grabbing his arm and attempting to lead him out of the cinema, "I have an idea.  Follow me…"

            He led Sirius to the loo, leaving a trail of gummy bears behind him.

            "Exactly what is your addition to our plan, Prongs?" Sirius asked, as he was pushed through the door.

            "I'll explain it to you, just get in.  We don't have much time."

                                           -~-~-~-~-~-*-~-~-~-~-~-

            As the movie was about to start, two eleven-year-olds burst through the theater doors, carrying Tootsie Rolls, Snickers, pretzel bites, popcorn, a half-eaten bag of gummy bears and a large Coke.

            "Shouldn't we form new names and everything?" one of the boys muttered to the other, as they made their way through the entrance doors.

            "If it sinks your ship, I suppose."  The other replied, looking very aggravated, as he rolled his eyes.

            "Alright," the first smirked, "I'll be Henry."

            "Okay, then, _Henry,_" the second grinned, "I'm Charlie."

            "_Charlie?" Henry mocked him._

            "Oh, shut up, _Henry_." 

            "Will do, mate," and with a sneaky smile aimed at one another, the pair made their way up the steps to find seats.

            Henry and Charlie took seats a couple of rows behind Lily and Davy, of whom were intently watching the previews, until Davy whispered something into Lily's ear that made her giggle.

            Charlie had his fists clenched and gritted teeth as he watched Lily conversing with Davy in a very happy manner.

            "Hey, cool it, Romeo, she's not about to go off with him," Henry said, laughing.  The woman behind him with her husband looked curiously upon him.  That wasn't a very normal thing for a young eleven-year-old boy to say.

            "Thanks for telling me.  Now tell me something I don't know," Charlie replied, once again rolling his eyes and settling into his chair as the credits for the movie began to roll.

            "Like that your pants are unzipped?" Henry questioned, grinning at his companion.

            "What?!" Charlie whispered, beginning to blush, and reached for his zipper to find it fully zipped, "You little liar. Thanks a lot."

            "What are friends for?" he whispered back, laughing just a bit.

            The woman behind them finally got the urge to speak up, from having been annoyed to the brink of things.  She leaned forward, and skillfully interrupted their conversation.

            "Excuse me, young gentlemen, but could you please not talk while others are actually _trying to watch the show?"_

            "Of course, ma'am," Sirius said, stifling his laughter pretty well, but adding internally, _Why don't you not talk while others are trying to watch the show, yourself?_

            Neither of them spoke for the movie.

            Until it got to the point where it was incredibly boring.

            This happened to be the climax of the show, when everyone else in the theater was crying, along with the leading man in the movie.

            _"I will hold your memory in my heart forever, and when I'm not, I'll be thinking of Paula, Charlene, or even Emmy."_

            Yeah, right, Charlie thought.  Like _that happened in real life.  How naive were these people?_

            He happened to notice Davy Gudgeon weeping on Lily's shoulder, as she comforted him.  She seemed to be very unhappy about the fact that her date was so horribly gullible.

            "Now," Charlie hissed to Henry who was holding the popcorn in question.

            "Now?" he asked, double-checking with his friend's instructions.

            "Yes, now."

            Henry nodded, and began the operation.

            "Ready, aim….fire!" he muttered, tossing a handful of popcorn in Lily and Davy's direction.  Then, as the kernels hit Davy softly in the back, he offered the carton over to Charlie, "Going to take a go?"

            "Of course," he replied, grabbing a handful, and chucking them at Davy's head. 

            At this, Davy turned around, murmuring to Lily, "Those kids keep throwing stuff at me," he scratched his head, "At least, I think they are…"

            Lily just looked at him.

            "Well…Aren't you going to _do_ something about it?"

            The woman behind the two boys appeared to be very annoyed with their display of rude behavior.

            "Didn't you ever learn to respect your elders?" she scolded them, glaring.

            "I dunno, did we, Ja—I mean Charlie?"  Henry asked, looking fairly amused.

            "Of course we did," Charlie replied, flinging more popcorn aimlessly at Davy's head, "Hence why we're not throwing any at you."

            The lady seemed to become _very_ offended by this.

            "Er…." Charlie stumbled at a loss for words, as Henry took over the task of lobbing popcorn at Davy and Lily.

            "Would to two just stop?" Lily asked, trying to keep her cool and reason with the kids.  You can't murder kids.  It doesn't look very good. "Please?"

            "No." Henry said simply continuing to toss the buttery food, as Charlie was trying to tell the woman behind them he was sorry.

            "I'm sorry, really I am…I definitely didn't mean it that way." Charlie said, looking upon a very upset woman.

            "No…I see where you're going with this.  I'm old.  Next thing you'll start saying is that I'm fat…"  She glared at him again.

            Her husband finally decided that it was time to intervene.

            "You get away from my wife right now," he said menacingly, appearing to be very mad.

            "Henry," Charlie whispered, nudging him, "I think it's time that we got out of here."

            Lily looked very disgusted, which brighten Charlie's mood a bit.  "You're not even going to stick up for yourself?"

            "Well, he might have a reason for throwing popcorn Lily…" Davy said, trying to stand up for himself a bit.

            Lily snorted, "Right."

            "Well…actually," Charlie chimed in, "We're conducting a survey on how much popcorn we can toss at people's heads until they get angry and say something…but now that we've gotten our proof…" he glanced at the threatening-looking man behind him comforting his wife, "…We can go now…"

            Then he pulled Henry up by his sleeve and lead him down the steps and out the doors, while all the other people in the theater glaring at the pair for making such a racquet. 

            "Ah…see, Lily?  They had a perfectly good reason," Davy said to her quietly, obviously pleased with himself.

            "Oh please," she rolled her eyes angrily, "Don't tell me you believed that."

            He just looked down at his feet, clearly embarrassed with himself for buying into their lies.

            Lily just sighed in a huff and crossed her arms around her chest.  Then she just looked up at the theater screen in hopelessness.

            _Date number two, down the drain._


	7. Its All in the State of Mind

**_Marauders' Match-making Inc._******

**            *Hey.**

**             I'd be Kait.  I'd also be sick, too.  Or was, when I started writing this chapter.**

**            Hope you all enjoyed the holidays!  Now to go back to school…UGH (Just kidding…)!**

**            Reminder: The italics are Lily's thoughts.**

**            I thought that since I'm not feeling so good, why not make Lily sick too? So…blah, blah…Please review…Thanks for all the reviews I've already gotten…You all rock.**

**                        -Kait* **

**            P.S.- This chapter takes place a few weeks after Lily's date with Davy.**

**Disclaimer:** The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me, are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?  

**Chapter 7**- It's All in the State of Mind

            "Uhhh…." Lily mumbled into her pillow as she rolled over on the couch,

            Today was not a good day.  It was like one of those days where you feel completely groggy and disoriented, and not able to comprehend much of anything.  Also the fact that Lily felt like she'd drunk a Polyjuice potion didn't help much.

            "Ohh….I think I'm going to be sick…" she mumbled to herself as she rushed to the bathroom, her hands covering her mouth.

            No sooner had she reached the bathroom, did a knock come from her door.

            She ignored it for the time being, because Lily was absolutely positive that whoever was at the door would not want her to "spill the cookies" on them.

            As she reached the toilet (and the person at the door knocked again), the wave of sickness simmered down.  She waited a few minutes to make sure she was okay, before slowly getting up and walking to the door.

            _I thought I told everyone that I didn't want vistors?_

She unlocked it and opened the door to find Remus Lupin carrying a container of what she guessed to be hot soup and a bag of crackers.

            "Original," she said, coughing quietly.

            "Well…I thought maybe you might want some soup, especially because it's of the wizarding variety," he smiled at her and set the soup down on the kitchen table.

            "So it cures sickness?" she asked, genuinely interested and followed him into the kitchen after she had shut the door.

            "You guess it."

            He opened the lid to reveal ordinary looking chicken-noodle soup, that was still hot, judging by the steam coming off it.  Lily sat down, and didn't feel much like getting up. "Accio spoon," she croaked, a big soup spoon making its way into her hand.

            She took a sip, cautiously, "You didn't make this did you, Remus?"

            _Because if you did, it's back to the bathroom for me._

            He laughed at her trusting nature and sat down at the kitchen table, "No, luckily.  You know I'm rubbish at making potions.  It's from the Leaky Cauldon.  Tom said it would make you feel better in about twenty minutes."

            "Hallelujah," she said with a smiling cracking on her face slightly.  She took careful sips, still, since she didn't want to end up in the bathroom again.

            "So how do you feel?" 

            He seemed concerned and wrinkles were forming at his brows as he waited for her reply.

            "Like crap," she stated bluntly and took another sip, "But a little better than this morning."

            He smiled at her, almost like he wanted to laugh but was trying not to for her sake.

            _Well…you try being sick, buddy.  Just the thought of laughing is enough to make you hurl, Lily thought._

            "When I feel better, in precisely…," Lily shifted her head to check the clock, "Seventeen minutes, I'm going to hex you."

            "This is what I get for bringing over soup, huh?"

                                                -------------------------

            Seventeen minutes later Lily felt much better.  She didn't feel completely cured, but something told her she wouldn't feel that way until this virus was out of her system.  She mostly talked to Remus about how his job search was going, because she hadn't seen him in a while.  Unfortunately it wasn't going as well as she'd hoped it had.  Remus had a bill to pay to his landlord at the end of the month and he was still jobless with no money whatsoever.

            "That's awful, Remus."

            "Hey, I didn't come over here to talk about myself, I came to visit you," Remus said lightly, changing the subject, "How are things going for you?  I heard from a blackbird that things to do with dating aren't going so great. Has it gotten any better?"

            Of course, Remus knew what the answer would be.  James and Sirius insisted on telling him every detail, even if he didn't approve of it.

            "Not really," she sighed, glancing out the window, "The last two dates haven't exactly …well…things always seem to go wrong…and the guys are always wrong for me."

            _I can't even pick the right guy to go out with, Lily thought, annoyed with herself, __At this rate, how am I even going to know when the right guy comes around for me?  Or if he's already here?_

_            **WAIT.  What am I saying to myself!?**_

****

****

****_Bad thought, bad thought, bad thought, bad thought…_

"How so?" Remus asked, wondering just how clueless she was to their friends' involvement in her love life.

            "Uh…," Lily said, trying to get her mind off of…other things, "Well…the first of the last two dates I went on was with Stubby Boardman.  You know, the lead singer of the Hobgoblins?"

            Remus nodded.

            "He was okay, a little self-centered maybe.  He took me to a restaurant in Hogsmeade.  It was nice, until a bunch of fans showed up and followed us around.  He liked them so much that by the end of the night, he was sitting with them instead of me!" Lily felt a bit angry in describing that one.

            _That guy was so wrapped up in himself, he might as well have brought a mirror to dinner with him, and propped it up on the table._

            Remus had heard about this date, but a slightly different version than Lily seemed to have experienced.  The version he was told about involved Peter, Sirius and James paying a couple of girls to follow the singer/git around.  Remus was surprised it had worked…but then again…they hadn't been labeled as pranksters for nothing.    

            "So how did the other date go then?  Not as badly I hope," Remus said sincerely, watching as Lily twisted the table cloth in front of her.

            "Well…no…not completely. You know Edgar Bones, right?  Well…of course you do he's in the Order…um, he and I went to a Quidditch game and it kind of ended in disaster," Lily managed to get out, stumbling over words to express the date, "The entire game, the only thing he could talk about with his ex-girlfriend.  I mean, I know it's hard, dealing with a break up, but at some point you have to get over.  I got over my ex-boyfriend."

            Remus nodded again, this time in agreement.  He was also thinking back to the charm Sirius had said he had put on Edgar to make him talk about a former girlfriend non-stop.  It was making Remus feel horrible inside to think about it.  He knew James and them were trying to do what they thought was the _right_ thing, but didn't they take notice to the torture and tie-wasting they were putting Lily through?

            "I'm hoping my next date will go better, though," Lily told Remus, looking a bit happier than before.

            _Maybe this one will actually work!_

_            And maybe this guy will be someone who can make me laugh and not completely be wrapped up in himself or an old girlfriend.  _

She had a feeling that if her next date went as horrible as all the last, she would lose it and just walk out on them.

            _God, now I sound evil, Lily thought.  __All I need is the evil laugh to go with it and I could be the witch in "The Wizard of Oz."_

_            "And your little dog too!  **Muhahaha**!**"**_

Oh, wow…she hoped not.  The last thing she needed was to scare off another guy…what with only a month until the wedding.  She was doomed, if that happen.

            "Oh?" said Remus, trying to sound only mildly interested.

            "Yeah," Lily replied, grinning at Remus, "I'm going out with Benjy Fenwick.  He asked me out at the Order meeting a few days ago.  It was kind of funny how Edgar was glaring at him."

            Remus smiled back at her, "That is funny.  I can picture it too…"

            They sat there for a moment, so Lily got up and threw out the soup container, also ditching the spoon in the dishwasher.

            When she came back, Remus asked her the question he'd been wondering about. 

            "So have you told anyone about it?  You going out with Benjy, I mean," he inquired, appearing to be merely curious.

            He wasn't called a marauder for no reason any more than the others were.

            "No," Lily said, laughing a bit, "I haven't really talked to anyone…since I've been sick.  I don't think I'll tell anyone anyway.  I'm sick of people knowing all about my personal life."

            "Understandable," Remus smiled, very pleased to hear this.  "Well…I'd better go.  I have that job interview tomorrow that I told you about.  Keep your fingers crossed, Lils."

            "You bet," she replied, and showed him to the door.

            "Good night, Lily." He said as he strolled out the doorway.

            "'Night, Remus and good luck!" 

            Remus smiled as he closed the door and apparated to his own home.  Now if Lily wasn't going to tell anyone, and he wasn't either…he had a feeling this date might just be the one that _didn't_ go wrong.


	8. Bragging is Not a Virtue

**_Marauders' Match-making Inc._**

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** Hey…I hope you guys liked the last chapter. It was a little less humorous than the other chapters, but I'm hoping this one will turn out better, even if it isn't as humorous as the beginning ones. Don't worry. The next chapter is _guaranteed_ to be funny (since it's another prank-filled date, of course).**

** To the reviews: LoL…People don't think the plan will work. Hmm…you'll see…just read on…**

** And thanks to the "feel better" wishes. I feel perfectly fine now. Thank heavens.**

** The last thing: Thank you for all the reviews and input. I'm becoming quite addicted to the reviews and hearing what you think. They're fun to read, so thanks.**

** Well… I think I just said enough "thank yous" in that little run-on to last me a lifetime. Happy reading! **

** -Kait**

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****

**Disclaimer:** The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me, are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter 8**- Bragging is Not a Virtue

At eight o'clock in the night, Lily was spotted by Frank Longbottom walking through the pathways of Hyde Park with Benjy Fenwick.

_How did he ever come up with something as romantic as a moonlit walk?_ _As if the rose at dinner wasn't enough._

Lily almost giggled at how perfect this evening had turned out to be.

And at how perfect the guy was.

She gazed up into his handsome face, lit up by the moon's graceful rays and sighed.

"I had a great time tonight, Benjy," she said earnestly, looking into his clear blue eyes. "Thank you."

"No problem, Lily," he replied, glancing down fondly at her. "I had a good time too."

The rest of walk was spent doing just that; walking. Occasionally, it was interrupted by conversation about the Order or people they knew, but for the most part, they were just caught up in being together.

When the evening had ended, Benjy led Lily home and walked her up to her doorstep.

"Good night, Lily," he murmured sweetly, with a kind smile on his face.

"Night, Benjy," Lily said slowly, barely believing the night was over.

But before she had any chance to think this through further (or any indication of what he was about to do), she found Benjy's lips upon hers.

----------------------

At approximately 8:14 p.m., Frank Longbottom entered the Leaky Cauldron. He was greeted happily by James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. As he got his drink from Tom, he anxiously sat down with the four, feeling he had a bit of interesting new to tell them.

"You'll never guess who I just saw," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, we can try," James replied grinning back at him, "And don't you worry, we will."

"A doxy?" Sirius quipped, taking a quick swig of his drink, "I hope it didn't bite you, mate."

"He is acting a bit loony, isn't he?" Remus said with a laugh, and looked around at the flickering lights in the Leaky Cauldron. The gentle snow falling outside the pub made the scene inside appear even cozier. It felt nice to Remus to be sitting near a warm fire with friends and sharing a good laugh. It was almost like the old days at Hogwarts where every said, "Voldemort who?"

"No, not a doxy in sight," Frank said, lightly hitting Sirius in the head for kicks, "Besides, I just saw—"

"—A rather stupid man sitting next to you?" Peter interrupted, trying to be witty. Instead, he got a punch in the arm from Sirius.

"That was not funny, mate," Sirius replied, a bit peeved, while attempting to talk over the laughter. "Not funny in the slightest."

"Sprout a sense of humor, Padfoot," James commented good-naturedly, "It _was _just a joke."

Sirius huffed loudly.

"Well, anyway, you were saying something, Frank?" Remus changed the subject for Sirius's sake.

"Oh, yes," his eyes got wider and he managed to stop chuckling for a moment, "I saw Lily. Lily Evans. She was in—"

He trailed off quickly, looking at Remus across the table. He was motioning frantically at Frank to stop saying what Remus thought he was.

James cast a glance in the direction of Remus, as he put down his drink with a look of wonder upon his face. "Do you have anything you'd like to tell us, Moony?"

"Me? No…nothing," he lied and waved his hand as if he was merely bored.

If Remus had to comment on anything at that point in time, he would have said something about the confused looks that were permanently stuck on the other three's faces.

"Go ahead and say what you were going to, then, Frank."

"Yeah, I'm intrigued," Sirius chimed in, after James.

Remus looked at Frank and then back at James again. "Wait. Okay, maybe I _do_ have something to say."

He paused for a second, and tried to mentally prepare himself for the fits of anger he was about to endure from those around him.

"Lily had a date tonight," he stated simply, "She went out with Benjy Fenwick…from the Order. I didn't tell anyone because I felt she should have a night free of sabotage."

James looked the most stunned. Sirius managed to sputter out a little bit of his drink from surprise. Peter looked almost just as shocked as the other two. Frank appeared to be confused and disgusted (as Sirius's spit ended up in his lap).

"Did you aim that, or something, Sirius?" Frank said, reaching over for a napkin. Then he began to wipe his pants vigorously while shooting a glare at man next to him.

"Sorry, mate."

And through this all, James was still speechless.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he asked heatedly. "Benjy Fenwick is no better then the other wizards."

"I thought she deserved to have a night of peace. And anyway, we know Benjy from the Order…He's not a bad guy," Remus shot back.

"Well, how did the date go?" James questioned Frank, since he chose to ignore Remus and his damn conscience.

Who needed a conscience anyway? He loved Lily and that was all that mattered to him, nothing more.

"It looked like it went okay," Frank answered, "I couldn't exactly tell."

James shot Remus another look.

"See! It went _okay_…"

"Oh, God _forbid_ Lily should be happy. Did you ever think of _that_?" Remus retorted, and took a drink from his glass, "The last time I saw her truly happy was the day before her parents died, and before she broke up with you."

Looks were shot around the table. Sirius stared at both Remus and James, knowing that Moony had just said the wrong thing. He just patted his best friend lightly on the back.

"You know," James mumbled, thinking back to that day, "It killed me when we broke it off. It killed me even more when she tried being friends with me. And then to see her go out with all those guys…when she'd said she wasn't ready to have a relationship with me because her parents…she said she couldn't deal with…couldn't…didn't want to fall in love only to find me dead one day…."

"It's hard, Prongs, I know…But you can't go breaking up Lily's dates forever. This is going to sound cheesy—"

"Doesn't it always?" Sirius said in an attempt to make James laugh. He succeeded, but only barely.

"—But," Remus just grinned uncharacteristically at Sirius, "If this thing between Lily and you is meant to be then it'll happen."

"And if we find out that one of her dates is a scum-bag, then we'll put a stop to it," Peter added, suddenly coming alive.

"Woo…Wormtail and Moony are getting sentimental on us," Sirius said, grinning mischievously at Frank. "Get a muggle talk-show, wouldja?"

Laughs went all around the table as Frank spoke up.

"This is going to sound weird, but, breaking off Lily's dates? What are you guys talking about?" He shot a glance at Sirius and James, "Or, _doing_, rather?"

James glimpsed around at the other three. _Should they tell him?_

But before anyone could utter a word, the little bell on the opening door rang, interrupting their thoughts.

"Hello boys!" a cheerful voice called as its owner walked into the pub, "How are you lads tonight?"

"Just peachy," James mumbled through gritted teeth.

"So we heard you had a date tonight with a certain redhead. How'd it go?" Sirius asked Benjy and tried to play it cool.

Benjy grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat down on the back of it (**A/N- In other words, he was sitting on the chair backwards)**.

"Good, I think, really good," he said, beaming at Frank, "Lily's just…she's great."

"Good for you," Remus smiled at him knowingly, "She is great, isn't she?"

James just took a nip of his drink and settled on being moody. Peter tried imitating him, just for fun, but couldn't.

"Having a heart attack there, Wormtail?" Sirius whispered to him, as Benjy continued talking.

"Yeah, I think it went real well. In fact, I think the girl may be hooked on me. Of course, Lily's no _Irma Pince_," he raised his eyebrows slightly as his said her name, thinking of the lush blonde, "But she'll do."

**_SHE'LL DO!_** James thought, waking from the dead, _This__ girl is practically my **sunrise**, and yet she chooses to go out with **him**?_

The world is controllably cruel.

Scratch that. The world _sucks._

James felt a pang in his chest as he started to say something to Benjy. "I don't know who you—"

"Oh! That'd be Irma, over in the booth…I'd better go keep her company. Later boys!"

And with a quick wave, Benjy Fenwick scurried off.

"Can I go punch him?" Sirius asked, almost in a whine.

"Okay, Moony, tell me…Is _that_ enough to go interfere with the next date?" James questioned angrily, eyeing his friend closely.

Remus just sat silently for a moment.

"Do you want some help?"


	9. Wishing Life Had a Rewind Button

**_Marauders' Match-making Inc._**

** Hey again, it's me.**

** I'm just looking over reviews I got for the last chapter. What a response! Wow…I'm amazed that so many people enjoy this story. I'm just…in shock, so to speak. LoL.**

** I just re-edited this; by the way…Sorry if there's still tons of errors in this. I _did_ type it at midnight…**

** I'll just keep this short for once by saying, thanks for reading this and sharing your opinions and comments with me. Enjoy Chapter Nine!**

** -Kait**

**Disclaimer:** The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me, are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter Nine****-** Wishing Life Had a Rewind Button

For some reason, Lily never understood why fidgeting with your napkin was always a must when you felt nervous. She was doing just that now as she waited patiently for Benjy Fenwick to show up. She kept willing her hands to lie flat on the table, but she couldn't help feeling restless.

As she sat anxiously about, on the other side of town (4 ½ hours earlier), the Marauders were brainstorming….

"What are we going to do?" James asked, feeling almost desperate and shifted in his seat uncomfortably. They had been at this for hours, and they only had 5 hours to go until Lily's date. If no one came up with a plan soon, Lily could be going down the aisle with this guy.

"I haven't any ideas, Prongs," Sirius shrugged from his chair at the table.

Remus also looked uncharacteristically puzzled. He had no idea how to trick Lily into doing anything, let alone dislike a guy she was already "falling" for.

"If only Peter were here," James said, looking forlornly at the door in the front hall. "He'd be able to help us."

"I'm sure we can come up with _something_ without him," Remus grinned sarcastically as he went on, "We've done things like this without him before."

"True," Sirius replied with a quick pause, "Any ideas yet?"

"Give me a chance to think, would you?" James said taking a swig of his drink on the table.

Remus took to chewing the end of his quill that he was using to list down their ideas. So far they had three ideas that were practically destined to fail. _Great start_, he thought.

"I'm bored," Sirius stated as his friends looked back blankly and obviously deep in thought, "I'm turning on the radio…if anyone cares."

The sound of the radio was a distant murmur to Remus and James's ears.

"And we're coming to you _live _with _Zelda Witchcraft_ the hottest artist in wizard music. Now tell us Zelda you write a lot of songs about moments in your life, and other people's lives. Your latest song is about embarrassing moments. Can you tell us your most embarrassing moment?"

"Sure, if I can think of one," Zelda replied perkily to the radio announcer, "There has just been so many…Hmmm…Well….Probably the most embarrassing is the time when my grandmum showed up at one of my dates. She followed us around, taking pictures and whatnot. Needless to say, the boy I went out with never called me again."

"Oh, well, that definitely sound song-worthy," the announcer agreed.

"Oy, Prongs!" Sirius yelled pointing excitedly at the radio, "Prongs!"

James just looked completely annoyed as Sirius jumped around the room. In the moments where James was ignoring Sirius, Remus said, "Hey, James…I've got it! The girl on the radio just said…"

"Sure, steal my thunder, why don't you?" Sirius whined.

---------------

When Benjy arrived at the restaurant, Lily couldn't have been happier. He looked positively handsome in his blue suede jacket and jeans. They were muggle clothes, but looked surprisingly good on him, none the less.

"Hey Lily," he said with a smile as he kissed her cheek and seated himself. "How have you been since last I saw you?"

"Smashing," she replied merrily, but felt corny in saying it anyway. "And how about you?"

"I've been fine," he said with a dramatic sigh, "I've just been incredibly busy with…work. Especially since Voldemort has been gaining support around the country. The Magical Law Enforcement squad has been completely _swapped_ lately."

"I know that, Benjy. I'm a hit witch!"

He gave her a knowing smile and leaned in closer.

"I knew you were, I just—forgot. My memory is horrible lately."

Lily giggled and twisted the table cloth nervously, "Maybe that's because someone hit you with a memory charm."

"I wouldn't put it past a death eater these days."

And with that, he subtly took her hand in his and placed them in the middle of the table. Then he handed her a menu to glance at, "You'll probably want to order soon."

_Oh my GOSH,_ Lily thought, _He's so perfect!_

_ How can he be so perfect? _

_ It's impossible, that's been clinically proven—_

_ And yet, I'm falling for him so fast…Is it even probable to begin to like someone so much so quickly? Sure, I've known him as an acquaintance for a while…but… I just don't know…_

For some reason, she felt the sudden urge to pull her hand from his and dash out of the place.

Then she'd find someone to talk to…like Marcia, Remus or even James…who now that she thought about it, she had not talked to them in a while…him or Marcia…

She could recall nights where she could sit around with both or either of them for hours.

Lily was quickly snapped out of her trance as Benjy called her.

"Lily, Lily…Are you ready to order?"

"What—Oh, yeah. I'll have the—" she glanced briefly at her menu, "—The chicken marsala."

"And for the sir?" The waiter prompted politely, taking Lily's menu lightly from her grasp.

"I will have the filet minion," Benjy replied, almost regally, "Rare, with a hint of lemon."

"Thank you, sir, madam," the man said, and took away the menus.

Lily felt bewildered for a split second.

"Did he forget to ask for drinks?"

"No," Benjy grinned but then his smile began to falter, "I got them for us…if that's alright with you."

"It's fine," Lily answered.

She certainly didn't want to make a big commotion about drinks. They weren't such a huge deal. As long as it was cold and a liquid, it would work.

So, she chatted on with him, when across the floor there was a plan affecting her that was about to go into action.

---------------

"Sirius, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

The question came from Remus, who held the plans he had drawn up in his hands. As long Sirius didn't attract _too_ much action to himself, this thing would go off okay.

"Yeah. I'm not _that_ clueless. I go in, embarrass Lily, and come back out. I get it," was the unconcerned replied accompanied by a yawn.

"Sure you do. Now just remember it," Remus said, and then turned to James before he noticed Sirius's scowl. "Does he look recognizable?"

"As my gran, yes. As Sirius, hell no." James said with a grin. He gazed at Sirius' curly white mane of hair, entirely purple outfit, which consisted of purple slacks, a floral print blouse, and a purple blazer. To top it off, he donned overly-done make-up that gave him a very pale complexion, a huge black purse, and a hair wrap that was tied under his chin. James laughed at the total product and was a bit more at ease since he didn't have to plan this one. "Unless Padfoot dresses up like my gran often."

"Shove it, James," Sirius retorted, crossing his arms over his broad chest and pouting.

"Hey, I hate to break up the promising cat fight, three-year olds, but we've got a date to spoil."

_ Sorry Lils_, Remus added silently, _But__ you definitely deserve better._

"Right you are, Moony. Let's get this show on the road, granny," he agreed, and gave Sirius a shove in Lily's direction.

Unfortunately, this led Sirius to attract unwanted attention to himself as he tripped his way down the stairs.

"Graceful," Remus sighed, looking around at the occupants of the restaurant.

"Sure, no one cares if Sirius gets hurt," Sirius mumbled, "Let's just let Sirius fall off a bridge while we're at it. No one will miss _him_."

James let out a small laugh, but then received a stern look from Remus for it.

"Alright, alright," he hung his head in shame, "I'll see if he's okay."

Sirius tried to get up with as much composure as possible—

"Padfoot!" a hushed voice called from his purse, "Sirius!"

As he reached his normal height and was clearly balanced on his feet, he dipped his hand into is purse, unearthing a mirror. Sirius attempted to make it appear as though he was merely checking his make-up.

"James?" he hissed, "What is it?"

"We wanted to know if you're okay."

Sirius made a face. "Sure, I'm just _dandy_. I fall down steps_ everyday_. And man, these shoes—bloody hell. How do women walk in these?"

"Not now," James' reflection whispered. "Just go over to Lily's table and do what you have to do."

"Which is—?"

James glared at him through the mirror. He was overly annoyed with his best friend's antics at the moment.

"Don't bother," Sirius said, speaking softly. "I know them."

"You'd better," was the reply Sirius heard from Remus.

Then, not wasting any time, he put the mirror back in its place, patted his blazer for wrinkles, and staggered to Lily and Benjy's table.

Lily, who was in deep conversation, never saw it coming.

"Hello darling," Sirius squeaked out in his "old lady" imitation that sounded a lot like a mouse. "How's my little Lily-Lula been?"

"Lily? Who's…this?" Benjy asked bemused.

"I'd like to know that as well," Lily replied, clearly just as confused as he was about the situation.

_Lily-Lula?_

_ Only my grandma used to call me that…But she's been gone for years._

"I'm your Gran Sally," Sirius croaked sweetly, "Don't you remember me?"

"No," Lily said, crossing her arms in frustration, "You must have the wrong Lily."

"No…I don't think so, honey. You're my Lily and I just know it."

To Sirius, this seemed just like the perfect time to whip out the camera, so he did. In doing so, there were blinding flashes every which way as he snapped as many pictures as he could of the couple.

And any pictures of people around them. You know, just for kicks.

"I just couldn't resist taking a few for the old family scrapbook," he said, smiling cheerfully. "We love to see a young man who our Lily could just _spend the rest of her life with._"

Lily appeared to be in shock, as she sat there, dazed.

Either that or Sirius's nutty camera skills blinded her.

Benjy just seemed horrified with the whole fiasco. "Spend the _rest_ of her…her _life_ with?" he managed to sputter.

If there was one thing that scared him out of his cotton socks **(A/N- That line's for you two, Lauren and Kaitlyn)**, is was the thought of marriage and commitment. How could you be _bound and gagged_ to one person for the rest of your life?

"Yes, the _rest_ of her life," Sirius sighed with mock happiness. "Doesn't it just sound _darling?_"

That was when Lily caught a glimpse of it. The mirror that was showing halfway out of Sirius' purse. It kept flashing in the lights as Sirius moved from side to side with his camera.

She knew that mirror! How many times had she seen it when they were at Hogwarts? Now it was making its reappearance. It belonged to—

"Hey, Lily…This has been nice and all but I've got to go. I'm pretty sure they need me at the Ministry. I'll talk to you," Benjy said, grabbing his coat and fleeing the scene. "Later."

"_No!_ Benjy _wait a second!_"

Sirius stuffed the away with the mirror, which he observed was out of place. He stealthily made an effort to sneak away unnoticed by Lily.

Lily spun around quickly, just in time to see him leaving. "You. Halt."

Sirius stopped in his tracks and turned to face her slowly. What was she going to do? How badly was she going to kill him?

"You're not going anywhere, Sirius," she then grabbed him by the arm and led him swiftly towards the exits. "Where are the other three prats?"

"Oh, are you escorting me out? Why thank you…" he said, pouring on the charm…

"Where are they?" she demanded again, speaking in a low, angry voice that was very uncharacteristic of her nature. Sirius was really, truly scared of her and what she would do next that at moment.

"Two prats, actually. There." He pointed to a place by the stairs, behind a marble column and the rose bushes.

She quickly located them, rounded them all up and led them outside to the muggle parking lot.

"How could you do this to me?" she yelled, letting her anger out at last. She stomped her foot loudly, "You _knew_ how important his date was to me! And yet you still took it upon yourselves to ruin it. Thanks. Thanks a lot, boys."

"But Lily," James spoke up, "Benjy Fenwick is a git. He's ruthless when it comes to women."

"I would have found that out on my own, you know. Eventually," she huffed, looking up at the stars in the dark evening sky, "You never should have intervened…So, who planned this, anyway?"

"Well…" Remus began, feeling guilty and showing it on his face.

"I did it," James said quickly, taking the fall for him. It was sort of true after all. He hadn't done _all _the planning for this date, but for the others he had done most of it. "It was my idea in the first place. I'm sorry. Really, I am."

He just hoped she wouldn't hate him. He would never be able to bare that.

"I don't believe it," Lily murmured, stunned. "I'm amazed at how little you care. Thank you, James. Thanks for completely ruining tonight. This goes for you two, too."

Suddenly, James felt utterly terrible. How could he have made her so angry and upset? And he said he _loved_ her…

"Lily, I—"

"Just save it, James," she interrupted him harshly.

Subsequently, just as he reached out to take her hand, she apparated, leaving them all behind **(A/N- Didn't mean to make it seem like I copied off of you, Lauren. This just worked best.)**.

"I'm sorry, Prongs," Sirius murmured, putting a hand on his shoulder.

James had never felt so lost.


	10. One Way Ticket Out of Date City

**_Marauders' Match-Making Inc._**

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**            *Hey, I'm writing again.  Now don't expect this every time I write (as you know from how long it took me to write the last chapter).  This story had just become a haven from the rest of the world. **

**            By the way, just so you know, there's probably about 2-4 chapters left of this story (I can't drag it on forever, now.).**

**            Hmmm…I don't have much else to say except:  Thanks for the reviews I've gotten and enjoy Chapter 10, since the dating is not over just yet!**

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**Disclaimer:** The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me, are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter Ten-** One-Way Ticket Out of Date City

            Lily walked through the halls of the Ministry of Magic as quickly as she could.  As she neared the end of a hall, she broke into a slow jog.  She hadn't talked to him in a week.  She certainly had no intention of encountering him now.

            "Lily—Wait!" James called, trying to work his way through the crowd.

            Lily quickly went into the nearest room and barricaded the door.

            "Hello, Lilisters," a voice from behind murmured cheerfully.

            She turned around swiftly to see Sirius, holding a mug full of hot coffee.  She sighed as relief washed over her. "You gave me quite the fright," she scolded him.

            "I would hope my face doesn't look _that_ horrible," he grinned at her and held up his mug. "Want a cup?"

            "Sure," she said, smiling at him.

            He poured the coffee in silence, and handed it to her.  She took it graciously and sipped while he began to speak.

            "Still not talking to him?"

            "To James?" Lily inquired, appearing to be annoyed, "Why should I?"

            Sirius felt a bit confused by this, but he tried not to show it.  Instead, he leaned nonchalantly against the cream-colored wall with his hand on the self-cleaning counter.

            "But you're talking to me."

            "Were you the brains behind all those dates gone wrong?" she asked him, clearly angry with him.  That much was obvious as she slammed her mug down on the counter, spilling the coffee partly.  She huffed loudly as the counter cleaned itself.

            Sirius wasn't sure whether he should feel insulted or set her straight.

            He settled on remaining quiet, for once in his life. 

            Lily went on as though she had asked a rhetorical question.  "He was the one that dragged you three into it.  Even Peter told me that much.  But how twisted is he to think he should be able to control who I go out with?  I've just had it up to here with it."

            "So we really blew it then?" Sirius said, looking into her eyes guiltily.

            "Yeah," she mumbled, "You did."

                                                -----------------------

            As Lily left the Ministry around 5 o'clock, she was approached by Gilderoy Lockhart, much to her surprise.

            What was so surprising about it was that she hadn't seen him since Hogwarts, where he was a year behind her.  

            And now he'd become somewhat popular around the parts of London.  Especially since he had been on the cover of _Witch Weekly_ two months ago for winning the "Most Charming Smile" Award…

            Sure, he had a nice smile, but what Lily liked in a guy was a brain, at least.

            "Hi, Lily," he said brilliantly, "How have you been?  Hopefully as wonderful as I have."

            "I've been great, Gilderoy.  No use in asking you how you've been since you have already supplied that great deal of knowledge," she said sarcastically, and began to walk away.

            He still smiled back at her.

            _He didn't catch on my sarcasm? _

_            Wow.  He's even less intelligent than I gave him credit for._

"Well, I was wondering if maybe you would care to have dinner with me…say, tomorrow night?" he questioned her in his most polite tone.

            "Well, I—"

            How do you say no to a guy you most definitely don't, under _any_ circumstances want to go out with, but still don't want to hurt his feelings?

            Her thoughts were stopped up by James, who had just come out of the Ministry doors to see Lily and Gilderoy talking. 

            With each other, no less.

            He could not _help_ but stare.

            "How about you meet me at the Leaky Cauldron at seven o'clock tomorrow?   There's supposed to be a good wizarding musical group there," she offered to Gilderoy, flashing him a dazzling smile that almost out shined his own.

            "I will see you there, then," he replied with a grin.

            James was the only person not grinning at this matter.

                                                -------------------

            Lily was seated in a booth at the Leaky Cauldron with Gilderoy, wondering what in heaven's name she was thinking when she had accepted this date.

            No, when she had _proposed_ this date.

            She had brought it upon herself.  Death by being talked to death.

            And not just about any old subject.  About Gilderoy Lockhart, of all people.  She was finding out about all the "adventures" he had been on, his future career choices, his good looks, his hopes, his dreams, and etcetera…

            There was only so much one person could take.

            At least she knew James and the boys hadn't done anything to sabotage this date.  That was her one consolation. 

            That and the fact that the music here wasn't half bad…

            "…And so, that's how I got rid of the Bandon Banshee.  I've told it to other people and they actually thought it was quite the story.  So what do you think?" 

            Gilderoy smiled happily again as he waited for her comments.

            "It was absolutely intriguing," she said, with a tone of boredom in her voice.

            Forget being well-mannered.  It's not worth it.  

            "So do you want to hear another?" he asked, clearly pleased that someone had enjoyed his story.

            "Why not," she responded, and propped her head up with her hands.

            _I've got nothing better to do._

            At that exact moment, there was a loud clang as the bell on the entry door rang.  Lily spotted him at the doorway, just coming in for a drink.  He sat himself down at the bar.

            Sirius Black.  Her _savior._

            Okay, that _was_ taking it a little too far, but please, Sirius or Gilderoy?

            It's a no-brainer.

            "Excuse me, for a moment?" Lily interrupted her date's current story amiably, "I need to use the ladies room."

            She passed by Sirius said whispered, "Save me!"

            Then she walked on to the loo, where Sirius stunned her by following.  She stopped just outside the doors marked for witches and wizards.

            "Not you're dream date, huh?" he said, giving her a grin.

            "You've already used that line on me a few weeks ago, Sweetpea," Lily retorted, giving him a look.  "Can you just get me out of here?"

            "How do you think I'm going to do that one?" Sirius replied, scratching his head, "And besides I thought you didn't want my help with dates anymore, remember?  The thing you're holding against James?"

            "Sirius, stop being right and smart, it just doesn't suit you," she said.  

            Why did she feel childish all of sudden for staying mad at James?

            Damn you, Sirius.

            She felt herself saying that often, lately.

            "Fine, then I guess I can't help," he grinned.

            He started to walk away and go back to his place at the bar until Lily spoke up again.

             "Wait, so now you're holding against me that I'm holding stuff against James?  Blackmailer."

            "It is part of my name," Sirius said, laughing a bit.

            She just glared, but then changed her face to a look of hopelessness, "Gilderoy Lockhart, Sirius.  Come'on… Old buddy, old pal."

            "Alright," he caved. "Go back to your table and give me a second."

            She did as he said (for once in her life).

            "Well, where was I then…?" Gilderoy asked as she seated herself again. "Oh, right…The thing with the award…"

            "Excuse me," Sirius interrupted, touching Lily on the arm, "Are you Lily Evans?"

            "Why yes," Lily said, mocking overly maudlin actresses she had seen on muggle soap operas, "Yes, I am.  Why?"

            Sirius held up a napkin he had taken from the counter and read it like it was an official document.

            "They need you at the Ministry, if you'll just come with me…"

            Lily feigned a look of shock.

            "What?  But I'm on a da—"

            "Lily, they need you," Gilderoy said nobly, "Go."

            She felt bad for doing this, but hey…He had told her to leave….

            "Well, okay…," she looked back at him slowly as she grabbed her coat, "You're sure it's not a bother?"

            "Go," Gilderoy urged her.

            "Thank you for the dinner, it was brilliant," Lily smiled, feeling genuinely happy now as she kissed him on the cheek, "Good-bye, Gilderoy."

            "'Bye," he muttered, still stuck on the fact that _Lily Evans_ had kissed him…Well, sort of.

            "We've no time to lose," Sirius said hurriedly, rushing her out the door, "Au revoir, good sir!"

            As they ran out the door, and down Diagon Alley, Lily couldn't believe she had made it out of there.

            "Time to party," Sirius said to her, "Zonko's, a butterbeer and a visit to Madam Rosmerta with her crazy bunch sound good?"

            "Sure," Lily laughed, "And since when do you know French, Mr. 'Au revoir'?"

            "I'll never tell.  Bring me death first."


	11. Calling In For Reinforcements

**_Marauders' Match-Making Inc._**

**__**

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**            *More writing.  Thank you a ton for all your reviews and input (even though some of the suggestions I haven't put to use, since I already have this story planned out).**

**            One person asked where the Lily and James action is. SSHHH!!  I can't write that yet.  I'm not about to go through that long series of dates just to have them get together real fast.  I have to drag it out forever and twist it into a bunch on sailor knots until it kills off all my readers.  LoL.  I'm just kidding about that, but it will take a while.  No one ever said falling in love was easy or fast.  Reality television doesn't count…I mean, do you really think ALL those people on television are in love?**

**            That's about all I have to ramble on about.  Thanks for reading, and I hope you like Chapter 11.**

**                        -Kait***

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**Disclaimer:** The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me, are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter Eleven-** Calling In For Reinforcements

            "She won't talk to me," James mumbled to Sirius, at their meeting in the Leaky Cauldron.  Remus and Peter both had "prior engagements" as they put it.  "Why won't she talk to me?"

            "I dunno, mate," Sirius said sympathetically, looking out the window from his stool at the bar.

            James modeled a look of disgust on his face.  Was Sirius blind?

            "She's talking to you," he said bitterly.

            "_I_ saved her from a date with _Gilderoy Lockhart_," Sirius smiled smugly and when on, "I would think that would make her have to talk to me, out of thanklessness or something."

            "You mean, _thankfulness, _graciousness, right?"

            "Yeah, sure," Sirius replied, waving it off with a quick shrug.

            "So what you're saying is that Lily won't talk to be because I haven't been able to be a knight in shining armor for her?"

            James slammed down his glad in frustration.  Looking around at the crowded bar didn't help much either.  Everyone else appeared to be happy there, what with it being "Free Drinks Night" and all.

            Then he glanced back at his best friend and sighed.  He hadn't understood girls at Hogwarts and apparently, he didn't know anymore about them now more than ever.  He just did not get it.

            Sure, he had gotten the picture as to why Lily was mad at him.  What puzzled him was why she insisted on staying angry at him and not the others.  Perhaps it was because he had taken the blame…or because he had done more of the planning…But whatever it was, James had a feeling he would never know.

            But before he had a chance to ponder these thoughts any further, Sirius finally spoke up.

            "Do I look like the Lily-expert, mate?"  He asked and accompanied it with a little smirk.  "I have no idea what goes on in her head or what she considers to be rational thinking."

            "Are you saying that she's—"

            "What I am saying," Sirius started again, interrupting the sputtering James, "Is to give her some time and she'll talk to you again.  Or at least, that's what people say works."

            James grinned a bit and almost felt somewhat better.

            "Since when did you become the 'All-Knowing Sorcerer'?"

            His companion laughed and muttered darkly, "Well, we know it doesn't run in my family."

                                                            -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

            Lily Evans was once again sitting in her apartment on the sofa watching another re-run of her favorite television show.  Ice cream, her current best friend, was sitting peacefully in its carton beside her until commercial breaks came on and she attacked it with her spoon.  Triple fudge was Lily's cure to everything.

            __

_            Back to the beginning, huh?  _She thought this as she stabbed the carton again and shoved a spoonful in her mouth. 

            Petunia wanted an answer as to who is going to be her guest. She had already left five messages on the machine.  Now you can ignore your sister for a hell of a long time but you can't ignore five telephone messages.  It's just not humanly possible.

            Unless Lily wanted Petunia to come over and track her down…

            And Lily certainly didn't want that.

            Talking to Petunia on the phone was one thing…But Petunia in the flesh…That would be too much for someone who had just ate a carton and a half of triple fudge ice cream to handle.

            _Should I call him…?,_ she wondered.  Maybe it was too much to chance from just a friend.  Plus there was the run-in she had had with him earlier….He hadn't been to keen on talking to her.  In fact, he seemed destined to avoid her and that was an odd thing, even for him.  He seemed to always be there for her to fall back on…but could she count on him now?  Could she chance asking him to be her date to the wedding?

            And if she did ask him, would he pull anything at the wedding?

            She couldn't put it past him.

            But _Sirius _was her only hope…

            She decided to ring his house, in hopes that he might be home.

            "HELLO?!" A quite loud voice shouted from the other end.

            Lily was not sure if he was joking, if he seriously didn't know how to use the telephone or if he had just taken another blow to the head.

            _Perhaps he's drunk,_ she ventured a guess.

            "Is this how you always answer your telephone?" 

            "Yeah," he boomed, "Can you hear me?"

            She sighed and spoke again, "Lower your voice, Sirius.  I can hear you perfectly.  Although, my eardrums thank you for the crazy wake-up call."

            "Sorry," he whispered and took the receiver away from his mouth, "Is this better?"

            "Didn't you ever take Muggle Studies?  It would be a little better if you just talked with a normal tone."

            Just as he was about to answer, Sirius was interrupted by a person across the way of his cozy living room. 

            "Who's on the telephone?" James asked as he grabbed a butterbeer and threw himself onto the couch nearby. 

            No one, Sirius mouthed, I'll be right back.

            "Sure thing."

            As he exited to the next room over, James snapped open the bottle and took a swig of his drink.

            "So what is going wrong, Lily?" Sirius asked, just merely curious. "I don't think you have ever called be before.  Got another date with Gilderoy you need to get out of?"

            "Not exactly, Sirius," She said and cringed slightly.  "But I do need a favor to ask of you."

            "Shoot away."  

            He seated himself in a comfortable chair and settled in for a long conversation.  Then, he involuntarily began to fiddle with the curtains on the windows and he glanced at the snow outside mixed with soft moonlight.

            "Well, you know Petunia's having this wedding, right?" 

            "Sure.  You have only mentioned it a couple times," he laughed, a smile gracing his handsome face.

            "Yeah…I know," she grinned through the phone and started to twist the telephone chord around her finger.  "I just…was wondering…if you would, _could_ possibly _want_ to be my date to it."

            "…What?"

            He nearly choked on nothing.  He definitely hadn't been expecting her to ask _that_.

            "Oh…I mean, I understand if…you don't want to…"

            "No," he said firmly and sat up in his chair "I don't mind at all.  I'll go."

            "Really?" She questioned incredulously. "Alright then…It's at two p.m. on Saturday.  And a nice outfit or even a suit would be most desirable.  Petunia would turn into the ninja bride if we waltz on into the church in wizard attire."

            "Are harmless practical jokes acceptable, Miss Lily?"  Sirius joked, waiting for her reaction.

            "Not at all.  I want to see if you can truly live up to you're name," she replied seriously.

             "Oh, but babe, I am _already_ a star."

            "Ha-ha," she laughed.  If he had been anywhere near her, she would have smacked him.  Or hexed him.  It would have depended on whether or not her wand was closer or her hand.

            "Well…I have to go, but I'll call you back later," he said flirtatiously. 

            "Do you even have this number?" 

            "I have your address.  That should be enough for me to find you," he grinned.

            "Stalker," Lily countered, laughing at his ridiculousness.

            "See you…," he glanced around suspiciously just for kicks, "…Soon…Lily…"

            "'Bye, Nut-case."

            She couldn't believe it.  She was going to the wedding with…_Sirius…**of all people?**_

            Still…she was happy he had agreed.  _Better call Petunia…_

            On Sirius's end of the line, he hung up and walked over a room to his best friend.  He felt particularly content for helping out a friend.  That was the good deed for today…

            "Who was that?" James grinned, looking up from the Daily Prophet he had snagged from the coffee table.

            "It was...umm...hrm..."

            Now to explain it to James, without getting hexed…


	12. Collecting All Thoughts of You And Throw...

**_Marauders' Match-Making Inc._**

**A quick note about other fics: To all the readers who's fics I read—I'm going to keep reading them soon…I just haven't had time to get around to reading and reviewing sets aside a chunk of time for that I'll be reading and reviewing soon!**

**Is in shock Having just re-read the reviews for the last chapter that's the only way I _can_ feel. I'm shocked in a good way though. One of the reviews that really caught my eye was one by _A Pinch of Salt_. Thanks for being so critical (not that I'm telling all my reviewers to totally trash my story or something, but I'm not going to object to seeing you address valid concerns about the plot and characterization). I didn't realize that James was so unlovable…I was re-reading some of what I wrote of him and yeah, he really is pretty horrible at times. That's totally _not_ how I meant for him to come across. I guess I'll have to try and make him sweeter and more concerned about other people…because I see him as a sweet guy that comes across a little selfish and condescending at times, usually when he's feeling desperate (which is his main emotion in this fic so fair). Also, the basis of the plot is a little thin, I admit…but thought it would make for an interesting story that goes against the grain of all other L/J stories…I can't stand using the same plot over and over again for a Lily and James story. It gets to be cliché after a little while, don't you think? So all in all, after that spiel and explanation, thanks for all the reviews! **

** Also, a little secret sharing: I'm also rooting for Sirius and Lily at this point. I think they have an awesome chemistry and they seem to have that great chemistry in all stories I read…**

** -Kait**

**Disclaimer:** The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me, are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter Twelve****-** Collecting All Thoughts of You (And Throwing Them Away)

"You're _what?_" James questioned slowly.

It was quite obvious that James was genuinely shocked. His jaw dropped in astonishment and the scone that had been near his lips was now located on the carpeted floor.

"I'm talking Lily to her sister's wedding, okay?" Sirius said, a crease of worry appearing on his forehead.

Remus and Peter exchanged half-smiles as they waited for James's post-shock reaction.

But they were sorely interrupted by a knock at Sirius's door.

"I'll just…go get that," Sirius mumbled in relief, pointing to the door. Then he left the room in a flash, even dropping the tie from his rental suit on the sofa.

The other two present in the room watched as James sunk into an armchair in disbelief.

"James," Peter asked nervously, waving one hand in front of his friend's vacant face, "You okay?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Wormtail," Remus said and grabbed Peter's hand from its place before James's eyes, which were currently staring into space. He looked lonely and despondent to the other two. "He might see your hand in front of him and randomly decide to lash out at it. And we wouldn't want anyone to get hurt here. Too much blood, and explaining for Sirius."

Then they spotted James mumbling under his breath.

"Stop everything and look yonder," Remus whispered, trying to make the situation lighter, "The quiet one speaks."

"I can't believe she's going out with…and he accepted…my _best_ friend…," James mumbled.

Remus felt a sympathy he had only felt once before for James. His friend was usually so strong…he never showed his emotions so easily. Then again, he had never completely recovered when Lily broke it off with him.

He found himself putting a hand on James's shoulder to comfort him. "Listen, I'm sure it's just a favor Sirius is doing for her…Anyway…Have you even tried to _tell_ her how—"

But once again, he was interrupted in his words by Sirius and the familiar blonde who had entered the room.

"Sirius, I have to say," Marcia stated, glancing at his traditional black suit, "You do clean up quite nicely."

"Why thank you, milady," he said with a grin and twirled so she could see the whole package, "I'm—"

At that point, the pair stopped in their tracks on the hard-wood floor as they noticed James with his head in his hands, sitting in a chair and Remus with his hand on James's shoulder. Peter looked up from James to see the two, also.

"It's not…," Remus started, fluttered and removed his hand, "…What you think…James is upset."

"We believe you, Moony," Sirius said and sat down next to James in another chair, propping his feet up on the coffee table. "I'm sorry mate, really I am. But it's not like I'm going to make a move on Lils or end up in love with her. I'm just taking her to a wedding. Nothing's going to happen. Not even pranks, because she already said no to those."

Marcia appeared to be confused. "So that's why James is upset? Because you're going to a wedding with Lily?"

"It's not just that," James looked up at his friends and mumbled sadly, "Actually, it's not really that at all. It just that...she's never going to talk to me again. Which I know, I'm stupid and I brought it on myself but what else can I say? It sucks and I caused it."

"I'll get her to talk to you," Marcia said fervently and started to leave, "I can talk her into—"

"No." James croaked and scrambled to his feet, "Really…that's nice of you, but…I just want to get over her. It's like…," he paused for a second; trying to put the feelings he desperately wanted them to understand into words. "She's been plaguing my mind for years. I know she doesn't feel the same and I'm not about to force her or anything…I just…I want to be through with her, with everything that comes with it, too."

Marcia sighed, while everyone else looked completely alarmed…like James had grown fifteen heads and had just said he wanted to be a butterfly.

"If you say so," she murmured and from her own clear blue eyes into his hazel ones, "You're sure?"

"What other choice do I have?"

------------

"Thank you so much for coming," Petunia said with a smile plastered mechanically on her face as she welcomed the guests into the dining hall. Her grandmother and new husband stood nearby greeting others. Her eyes stopped on a certain red-head making her way through the doors with a fairly handsome young man. "Lily. How wonderful it is to see you."

Then, when she was sure her grandmother was busy talking to someone else, she spoke freely.

"Freak," she said in a hoarse whisper, glaring at her younger sister, "Thank you _so much_ for coming."

Once they had gotten past the raging Petunia, Sirius took her aside.

"Why did she invite you if she doesn't even like you?"

Lily laughed, but then quickly banished it away. "Because my grandmother insisted. My grandmother also insisted that I stay at this thing for more than 2 hours."

"Oh," Sirius said, finally understanding why Lily disliked her sister so much and always talked about how horrible she was, back when they had been in Hogwarts.

"Oh is right…," she grinned, "But once 2 hours and 1 minute are up, we are out of here. That okay?"

She led him to their table where the place cards were spelled out. _Sitting next to Vernon,_ she thought as she glanced around at the other names on the cards at each seat. _How utterly perfect._

Lily knew she should have brought some ear plugs in her purse.

"Fine with me," Sirius replied, and held out her chair for her before sitting down himself.

_Thirty-seven Minutes Later..._

Lily glanced around at all the people on the dance floor and then back at the number of people currently sitting at their tables. The amount of people sitting down had greatly lowered since Sirius had gotten some punch and then hit the dance floor with her _real_ grandmother.

Even Petunia had stopped shooting her dirty looks whenever Lily looked at her. It was like she had become possessed with some kind of goodness.

It was creepy.

Lily put a stop to her thoughts briefly and when to get some of that punch people had been raving about. When she reached the bowl and got a cup of it, something just didn't fit. It was the smell or the taste of it…something was off…

She walked back to the table and placed her glass on the table quickly. She knew what it was now, as she watched Vernon, the groom, do the "hustle."

"Sirius," she said loudly and cut in to his dance with an older brunette by grabbing his arm and hauling him away, "Excuse us."

"What on earth is wrong, Miss Lily?" He asked, trying to look innocent.

"Sirius," she started, looking completely furious, "You didn't!"

Once again he appeared to be playing dumb.

"Didn't what?"

She led him to their table and forced him to sit down next to her. Then she addressed him again.

"Are you thick? You turned all the punch into wine!"

"Not all of it," he responded immediately with a mischievous grin playing on his face. "Only half of it."

"Half, all...It doesn't matter. Petunia's going to have my head on a platter for ruining her wedding!"

She looked around miserably and placed her hands in her head out of anguish. How familiar this position looked to Sirius from earlier that day…But he quickly shook off the feelings of guilt.

Instead he glanced around at the people dancing on the floor. Everyone looked so happy and they wouldn't remember this all in the morning, so how was that so bad…Maybe…? He spotted Lily's sister quickly, in the middle of a polka line. She looked happy. Drunk, but happy. And who shouldn't have the pleasure of being drunk on their wedding day? He had to stifle a laugh as he watched the polka line quickly deteriorate into a country line dance group.

"Actually, I don't think she's going to do anything to you."

"Oh god," she groaned, and aimed a blind punch at Sirius with her head still in one hand, "Please don't tell me she's drunk."

"Fine. I won't," Sirius said as he grinned and ducked. "But I wouldn't suggest you open your eyes either."

Lily, without delay, opened them and looked up. Indeed it was her sister, line dancing at her own wedding.

"Sirius. I'm going to kill you," she mumbled with annoyance. But then a light went off in her mind. "But as long as no one is sober enough to notice us, why don't we get out of here?"

She grabbed his wrist and walked with him out of the magnificent hall.

"What about the older ladies waiting for me to come back?" he questioned with a wicked smile as he followed her out.

------------

_Meanwhile…_

James sat in his house all alone.

Of course, Marcia, Remus and Peter had all offered to stay with him for a bit to make sure he would be okay, but he declined.

Right now he just really needed to be able to forget about Lily. But it was _not_ all that easy. They had shared so much, had so much history… How could he forget someone like her? It just didn't seem at all possible…

Then he remembered. There _was_ a way to forget her; of course it was only temporary. Now just to find it. He was sure he would find it in the attic. He had used it for stuff for the Order before, so it wasn't like he did not know how to use it.

As soon as he found that Pensieve that had once been his father's, he used magic to bring it down the flights of stairs. He didn't feel much like lugging it down the numerous staircases.

Subsequently, he pulled the memories out one by one, and tried to forget.

Forget Lily.

------------------------------------------

** A QUICK LITTLE POLL:**

** I thought of a way to drag out this story so that I could have many more chapters left (like six or so, I think).  
I'm not sure if I want to write it that way though, since it's not originally how I intended to have it go. Plus it would involve bringing in another character (probably another love-interest for either Lily or James...though I won't say which).  
Should I do it?  
I'm not really sure if that's what I want to write...also it would make things more complicated.**

If I decide not to do that, though, the story will have about 3-4 chapters left (I figured out another way to drag it out, though this one I KNOW I'm going to use).

So voice out on what you think. I'd really like to hear what you have to say.


	13. Pieces of You and Me

**_Marauders' Match-Making Inc._**

**            Hey!  Thanks for your input on that poll.  I thought up this awesome totally new ending, so it'll rock.  So I think this story only has 2-3 chapters left.  I can't be exactly sure.  Thanks for reading.  I hope you all love this next chapter.  It explains a little bit more into the past of Lily and James (though it was so hard to write, and that should be evident when you notice how long it took me to update it.  LoL).  But thank you for the reviews and for your patience. **

**            By the way: I made Lily's thoughts coincide (sort of) with James' thoughts in the last memory because I thought it was funny.  And also, a lot of the passage is the same as when I first wrote it into this story because, you know…I'm lazy, I suppose and it just worked well.  I also edited some mistakes in Chapter 12. Oh and this chapter is lo-ong!**

**                        -Kait**

**Disclaimer:** The plot of this story is based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me, are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter Thirteen- **Pieces of You and Me

            James felt utterly…blank as he sat in front of the window, staring at the rain hitting the street pavement and the house heavily.  He felt surprisingly alone and yet…he had no idea why.  Was something missing?  Should something be missing?  He knew he had placed some thoughts away, far away…but just what those thoughts were; he couldn't quite remember.

            "James," someone boomed loudly from the hallway, "Hey mate, where are you?"

            He swiftly turned around to see Sirius enter from the hall, smiling sympathetically at him, which led James to stare at him in confusion.  Why was Sirius acting as if something was bothering him?  Should something be?

            "'ello, Sirius."

            "So…how are you?" He asked nervously as he sat down in a chair relatively far from James.

            _Bloody hell, _James thought.  _Why was he being so distant?_

            "How should I be?" He questioned, his tone an annoyed one, "I'm perfectly fine."

            It was then that Sirius spotted it.  The Pensieve, to be exact.  He had not seen that thing since his Hogwarts days…

            Then it dawned on him.  No wonder James was acting so ignorant to the whole situation…He'd went and forgotten it all!

            "Um…," Sirius thought carefully before speaking, as so not to ruin James's odd frame of mind.  "How long has it been since you have seen Lily Evans?"

            James got up and walked over to a chair closer to his best friend's.  What sort of question was that?

            "Hogwarts, of course," he replied easily, "You know, back when I had had that crush on April Donovan, you know… her friend."

            Sirius's mind was reeling.  James had really erased everything, hadn't he?  That memory was from back in 3rd year!  Why would he go and do that?  Even Sirius knew that once it came time to put the memories back, it would hurt him even more…Because he couldn't forget her forever…

            _Or could he…_, Sirius wondered.

             "Listen," Sirius mumbled almost incoherently and got up, walking towards the dining room table, "I've got to go now…I was just stopping to say hello and all, but…would it be any trouble for me to borrow your Pensieve here?"

            _It's not like you will be needing it…since you don't want to remember Lily anyway._

"Sure," he replied, "Though I'm not quite sure why you would want it."

            "Thanks then, mate," Sirius said and lifted it carefully of the dining room table.  "I will bring it back soon."

            _That was an odd visit,_ James thought to himself as Sirius left.  Soon afterwards, he went back to the window to stare at the rain again.

            Just as Sirius was exiting, he noticed James go back to the window.  For some reason, this was very creepy for him to see, as well as James's mannerisms.

            _So this is his life without Lily…_

            It saddened him to see his friend so lost and broken…without even being able to realize it. 

            "I had better warn the others," Sirius murmured under his breath and went off to make those rounds.

                                                                                    ------------

            The last place Sirius stopped was Lily's apartment.  He thought he had never been so glad to see that place.  This was partly because he had failed to realize exactly how heavy a Pensieve could be when you carry it from place to place.  Of course, he had magic and apparition on his side.

            But that did not change the fact that that thing was incredibly _heavy._

            "Hey, Lily," he called, knocking on the door lightly and set the Pensieve carefully on the floor.

            It seemed that no sooner had he put it down, Lily opened the door to let him in.

            "Hello, Sirius."

            "No…," he grumbled and bent down to pick the basin back up.

            "Nice to see you too, then," she laughed good-naturedly and glanced down at Sirius.  "What is that, anyway?"

            He followed Lily inside as she led him through the doorway and motioned for him to place the Pensieve on the coffee table.

            "A…Pensieve," he replied in a strained voice.  "It stores…thoughts."

            He breathed a sigh of relief as he set it down again.

            Lily couldn't seem to resist giggling.  "Heavy, huh?

            "Well, it's no feather," he mumbled and plopped down onto the couch.  Lily followed the suit as Sirius opened his mouth to speak again.

            "Listen, Lily… I know you are still upset with James…"

            This drew a scowl from her face as Sirius spoke the name.

            "—Just hear me out," Sirius continued, holding out his hands to keep her from speaking.  "James, he…well…he put a certain few memories in this Pensieve and I would really like you to just see some of them so you'll understand James'…actions."

            "Sirius, honestly!  Why should I?"  She said angrily and looked him in the eye, "He's been so rash about the whole—"

            He interrupted her quickly, "Just see it, Lils. You won't understand otherwise."

            Then, he got up to leave, truly hoping that she would listen to him.  After all, didn't she have a right to know how James really felt? 

            Especially if James himself didn't even know how he felt because he had erased it all.  _The prat._

            "Just so you know, when you put memories in a Pensieve, it's a bit like…no, it is…forgetting them. Okay?"

            "Alright," Lily murmured, highly bewildered by this all.

            _Why was Sirius being so serious and sentimental?_

_            And what exactly did this Pensieve contain?_

Sirius made his way out of the room and closed the door softly as Lily became more absorbed in her thoughts.

                                                                                    ------------

            A few days later, James found himself waiting for Remus to arrive in the Leaky Cauldron.   The last few days had been slightly odd for James.  Every one of his friends seemed to be restrained when they talked to him.  It seemed almost like his friends had been trying to hold back something from him.  Even Peter had been more quiet than usual.  It felt like one huge secret was known; only no one had let him in on it yet. 

            He just hoped that Remus wouldn't have the same restrictive attitude the rest of them seemed to have.

            "James," Remus said with a smile as he entered the pub, "Sorry I'm late."  He rolled his eyes laughingly, "More job interviews."

            He took a seat at the bar as James took a swig of his drink and swallowed.  Internally, though, James was ecstatic.  _Thank goodness at least one of my friends isn't acting like a raving lunatic._

            "And how did those go?"

            Remus shook the rain from his coat out of habit while he answered, "How do they all go?"

            James smiled apologetically.  "Sorry, Moony."

            "No, it's perfectly fine," he said, frowning and letting out a force laugh, "Can't seem to get a job anywhere these days."

            "It's not your fault," James pointed out angrily, as Remus sat down.  "There are some stupid people out there who can't accept someone for what they are and that's a shame."

            "Unfortunately," Remus mumbled and shifted uncomfortably on his bar stool, "That doesn't make the rejection any easier."

            At that moment, Tom suddenly appeared from around the bar and spoke up.

            "What'll you 'ave, Remus?"

            "How about a cherry syrup and sherry, Tom," he replied with a faint smile.

            "On me," James chimed in and grinned at his friend, who held out his hand to protest.  So much for an attempt to cheer him up…  "For one of my best mates."

            When the drink came, Remus set out to object James' offer again.

            "Remus, take the darn thing.  I'm going to pay for your drink, even if that means I have to hex you to do it."

            "Sounds like you'd better take it," Tom said, bearing a semi-toothless grin.  He placed Remus' drink in front of him and said simply, "Enjoy."

            And as Remus scowled, taking a sip; James' thoughts were elsewhere… Especially seeing as an attractive red head had just frantically raced through the door as it clanged shut.

            "Tom!"  She exclaimed, eyeing the bar stools and counter anxiously, "You haven't seen my purse by any chance?"

            He looked around carefully and under the bar.  "Not so far," he then glanced over at James and Remus quickly, "Have either of you boys seen it?"

            The boys exchanged a quick look and searched around their seats cautiously.  Remus shook his head at Tom and watched as the young woman stole clandestine glances at James every so often, who was still occupied with his search underneath his bar stool.

            Remus took it upon himself to chuckle inwardly as he watched the girl modestly check one of his best friends out.  _Another one is smitten,_ he thought.

            Then, James appeared upright on his chair holding a brown bag.  He sat up just in time to see the red-head eyeing him with her gorgeous blue eyes.  At this he gave everyone in the room his traditional cocky grin and coolly asked her, "Would this be yours?"

            Remus thought the girl was about to swoon, from having been address by James.  Tom even noticed and put out a notion to put his arms out to catch her.

            And Tom wasn't exactly what you would consider good at reading emotions.  He had had his times when he had ruined many a romantic moment with Remus and women he attempted to date. 

            Why do you think people avoided the Leaky Cauldron like the plague when they were on outings with people of the opposite sex?

            Well, it certainly wasn't because the food was bad.

            The girl's reaction to James just made him grin wider.  "So this is your bag, then?"

            "Yes, that would be correct," she said with a shaky laugh.  After all, it wasn't like she went around making a fool of herself _everyday._  "Thank you," she mumbled while blushing and quickly retrieved the purse from James' grasp.

            She was about to walk away, feeling utterly stupid when James spoke up.  "Do you want something to drink?"

            Now this struck a chord with her.  Not every guy would be willing to talk to an inelegant girl who nearly fainted when she spotted them.

            "Ah…sure," she replied with an honest smile, "That would be good…uh…"

            "It's James," he said as she walked towards him, "My name's James Potter."

                                                                                    ------------

            Lily sighed in misery as she glanced past the Pensieve to watch as she used the remote to flip through aimless channels of nothing.

            What good is television if nothing interesting is on?

            She finally flicked the thing off, and set the remote down on the coffee table. 

            There was only so many times she could try and avoid the basin sitting right in front of her; though it was kind of hard to do so, since it was positioned right in front of the television.

            Lily was almost convinced Sirius had placed it there on purpose, just to torture her with a sickening mixture of guilt and curiosity.

            Finally she could not take it anymore.   It was like that thing was staring at her...beckoning her to get up and see just what its contents were.

            She picked herself up from off the couch and peered into the basin's shallow depths.  Only it wasn't that shallow... It had a wispy, silvery aspect to it that seemed to go on for eternity... And the different shades of gray and silver were swirling around like some sort of ghost was mixing it...

            But then the liquid (though Lily wasn't even sure she could classify it as that) stopped moving.  She expected to see the dark basin's end but instead she saw the darkly lit corridors of Hogwarts.

            Hogwarts?

            It couldn't be Hogwarts.

            But it was.

            Staring right back at her was Hogwarts...the memory from the past that seem ages ago...But in reality, she had been at Hogwarts, considered it her second home, nearly 2 years ago.

            "Hogwarts," she mumbled in disbelief and began to back away, "Hogwarts..."

            She would have continued to back away but the force pulling her was just too much and her curious nature took over.  She soon found herself landing face-first in the Pensieve.

            What astonished her was that she never hit the bottom of it...She just kept falling through its depths, feeling very much like she had just fallen head-first into one of the Hogwarts ghosts.  Only difference was this place was dark and seemed endless...

            Then, out of nowhere, she had landed.  Lily found herself standing next to the Transfiguration chambers.  The weird thing about it was she also spotted herself patrolling the corridors, wearing a shiny Prefect badge, keeping an eye out for unsuspecting frolickers in the night hours.  It seemed she wasn't doing a good job, as she hadn't spotted an older version of herself standing directly in front of her.  Lily stared in awe of her younger self and breathed deeply.  Why couldn't she see herself?  Was there some kind of unknown barrier between them?  

            She turned around for a second to explore her surroundings.  But just as she did so, James Potter popped out of the shadows of the Transfiguration Room and grinned that arrogant grin of his.  She had never screamed so loudly in her life...and yet nobody seemed to hear her.  James did not even stop for a moment to ask her what was wrong, and Lily, she looked back at her young self, appeared completely unaware that anyone else was around.

            That is, until she noticed James Potter creeping up from behind her.

            "Potter," she said sharply and with a swift turn was suddenly facing him, "Don't think I didn't see you roaming these corridors late at night."

            He just smiled sweetly in return.

            "That will be a detention for being up late at night, another detention for roaming the corridors, and a third for thinking you could get away with it," Lily watched herself growl as she wrote out the slips, "Now get to bed, Potter!"

            Lily thought she almost saw a flicker of wariness in his eyes as he looked blankly at the 6th year Lily.  But the look was banished away as quickly as it had come to be.

            "Don't you think that's a little harsh?" he challenged her, taking a step toward, "Even for _you_, Evans?"

            "Not in my opinion," she replied coolly, glancing back down at the slips and parchment in her hands.

            _Was I really that hostile towards him?  And for what?_

Lily's mind was in a daze as she tried to remember back to her Hogwarts days.

            Then her thoughts were interrupted as the scene between the two of them continued to play itself out right before her eyes.

            "So are you writing out all these detentions so you'll get to see me more often without admitting your _true_ feelings?" he asked her slyly and grinned at her cheekily.

            "Oh yeah," older Lily murmured from her location next to the Transfiguration Room, "That's why I despised the grotesque pain in the arse."

            "Oh yeah, Potter." Lily laughed haughtily, "I'm burning with passion alright—"

            His eyes nearly exploded out of their sockets in his over-inflated head in utter surprise.  His reaction caused Lily to laugh openly at her memory; only to cover her mouth quickly, even though it was already palpable that no one could hear her giggles.

            "—Just not the kind you're dreaming of."

            And with that, Lily turned on her heel and briskly walked down another vacant hall to continue her patrol.

            James held his slips like delicate china, feeling that his heart had been ripped out only to be crushed like glass into a thousand shattered pieces.  That much was clearly evident on his face as he looked back in the direction of Lily longingly.  "Stupid, stupid, stupid…," he chastised himself under his breath, "Why do I have to act like a damn prat?"

            Suddenly, Lily felt incredibly sorry for him.  If only he had not been so cocky with her…She would have accepted a date with him.

            Wouldn't she?

            She had no idea, in all truthfulness.

            Then, James took out a mirror and looked intently at it.  It seemed almost like he wasn't even looking at himself but something beyond the mirror's surface.

            "Sirius," he whispered to it, "Hey Sirius!"

            "What mate?" was the groggy reply.

            Lily nearly jumped fifty feet in the air as she heard Sirius' voice.  Where was he?  It made sense after a second.  After all, how many times had Lily seen that mirror over her years at Hogwarts and even afterwards?  Too many to count, that was for sure.

            "I have it."

            "The stuff from Zonko's?  Great."

            "Alright, then," James mumbled, straightening up, "I suppose I had better head back now."

            "Ah…what's bothering you?" Sirius questioned from the mirror.  _He knew his friend all to well,_ Lily thought, smiling; _In fact, he knows all of us too well._

James started to pace down the hallway in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower.

            "Why do I love her again, Padfoot?"

            "Because you are insane, mate," Sirius replied knowingly, "Because you are bloody insane."

            "Oh, am I?  Then why—"

            But Lily did not hear any more as he drifted down the corridor and faded into the mist.

            She didn't even have a moment to dwell on the fact that James felt so strongly for her…And how she had loathed him…

            Quite suddenly, Lily was moving and swirling into space again.

            She felt like she was moving faster and deeper and farther into this never-ending world.

            No more Pensieve trips.  That was her consensus for the moment.  So what if Sirius had something "urgent" for her to see.  What exactly had Lily found out so far?  So James had been in love with her back at Hogwarts.  That hadn't been that hard of a concept to grasp.  In fact, she thought she might have even fallen in love with him, too, back at Hogwarts.  Not that it was a hard thing to do.  And being with James had probably been the closest she had ever been to really being in love.

            But so what?  There wasn't anything either of them could do about it now.

            She abruptly was stopped to a halt at…Hogmeade?  Inside Honeyduke's basement?  Why on earth was she here?

            She looked around for any signs of James, since she supposed this _was_ his memory.  She noticed nothing odd about the scene around her.

            What Lily did notice was a muffled laugh.  Only no one was around, so where could it have come from?  She moved around to boxes in the corner and inspected behind them, just in case.  There was no one.

            Out of the blue, she spotted a board in the flooring being pushed up.  An unruly black head of hair popped out of the opening, and glanced around cautiously.

            _James_, Lily smiled.  She should have known he would be coming from the secret passage.

            Only, he wasn't the only one get out.  Once he had made his way out, he held out his hand to help up…Lily.  Lily watched as her 7th year self brushed off some dust from her robes and followed James up the stairs.

            "Where exactly are we going?" she questioned him in a whisper.

            "Shhh…," he said softly, taking her hand in his and helping her up the staircase, "You'll see."

            Lily watched the memory she knew so well unfold in front of her eyes.  Now that she looked at James, really looked at him, she could see how delicate he was around her.  How caringly he seemed to grasp her hand to make sure she didn't fall on the steps.

            It almost made Lily…miss him.

            But she brushed off the feeling quickly and followed the pair up the steps. 

            Once they had reached the top and made sure no one was around to see them, James and Lily bolted out the front door, with the bells chiming right after them and Lily fresh on their tails.

            Lily knew exactly where they were going, and followed them into The Three Broomsticks.

            She observed them as they sat down at an unoccupied table and began to talk for a bit.  Then she noticed James get up to bring them some drinks.  She smiled as she watched her younger self fiddle with her hair nervously awaiting James' return.

            "I didn't realize I looked so jumpy," Lily said to herself with a grin and went over to a table near the one her younger self was sitting at.

            When James returned with the drinks, Lily didn't even bother to listen to what they were talking to.  She knew what they were saying, as it wasn't everyday you had a first date with James Potter.

            Although, as she recalled, it wasn't many times other girls even got to have second dates with James.  He wasn't exactly keen on being bound to one girl, from what Lily remembered.  Though now it seemed to be because he was too busy setting his sights on her.

            Mostly, she just watched the pair for reactions.  It appeared to her that she sighed too much and seemed overly fidgety.  On the other hand, James seemed delighted to just be in her company.  It sort of gave Lily a twinge of guilt, since she had always despised him until 7th year.

            As soon as they finished their drinks and split the bill (Lily remembered being very set on splitting the bill, saying she didn't want James to pay for everything, even though he had offered), they walked out of the pub with goofy smiles on their faces that reflected their sheer happiness.  Lily could see that James was clearly love-struck, but was she?  That seemed to be one fact that slipped her mind every time she recalled hers and James' first date.

            _Sure, I look happy,_ Lily thought as she trailed the pair going up the hill to the Shrieking Shack, _But was I smitten the way he was?_

Suddenly, Lily felt like she wasn't sure of anything anymore.

            _Quit it,_ she told herself, scolding, _This stuff is all in the past.  Like Mum always said, don't open up old wombs._

            She tried to keep her mind off of it as she watched as she and James reached the top of the hill.  She hurried up after them to see what would happen next, even though she could have probably predicted off-hand, having been there.

            "Now open them," James said grinning while waiting to see Lily's reaction as he removed his hands from her eyes.

            "Oh my…," she trailed off, staring at the view, "It's gorgeous!"

            Lily looked from over their shoulders; daring to take a peek at her past.  The view itself was most definitely breath-taking.  Just looking at it again, even though James wasn't next to her, gave her chills.  It was a moonlit version of Hogwarts, its turrets and gray-stone structures seemed to almost illuminate in the cool darkness.  The castles surroundings were lightly covered with the beginnings of snow, making the trees and even the Whomping Willow sparkle with beauty.  The lake itself had never looked a more pronounced blue and its crystal depths captivated both Lilys attention.  That was until James shined an out of this world smile at her and moved closer.

            Lily didn't even make an attempt to move as James kissed her.

            Lily watched them from the side and re-lived it.  She knew every thought that had rushed through her head at that moment…Fireworks…From the gentlest kiss she had ever known.

            What was even sweeter was when he pulled away and laced his fingers through hers.  And then real fireworks shot up from behind Hogwarts.  Brilliant reds, blues and golden hues…

            Lily felt her younger self gasp, only to regain her composure instantly.  "The other three?"

            James blushed so lightly, it almost went unnoticed in the night.  "Yeah, that'd be Sirius and them."

            "Clever," Lily giggled and went on coolly, "So how did they know when to set them off?"

            He scratched his head for a second before responding, "Actually, I have no idea."

            "Well, we should hurry back, so we don't get caught," Lily suggested, her eyes lingering on the fireworks for a few more seconds before looking back at James contently.

            Lily glanced back at the fireworks only to see them come to a stop.  She supposed, since she was wiser now, that that happened to be the moment when Sirius, Remus and Peter had been caught.  Especially since she could remember days later, they all still were suffering from detentions well into four in the morning.  Lily even vaguely could recall doing homework for them, so they wouldn't fail or have to go to classes.

            "Hey, Lily?" James asked, as they started to walk down the hill, "Would you like to go out again sometime?"

            He looked extremely concerned while he waited for her to answer.

            "That would be wonderful," she replied, kissing him on the cheek. "Thanks for a lovely time, James.  I mean it."

            Then, just as Lily was about to join them in the trip back to Hogwarts, she felt a lurch and was carried away from Hogmeade and into the darkness.

            She waited patiently as the Pensieve dragged her through its icy depths once more and to the next memory.

            When she landed, she recognized the place instantly.  She was peering through a crack in the door to her Hogwarts dormitory.  She could see herself sitting on her bed, crying hysterically as she sat next to a forgotten letter.  She had soaked her sheets with tears as she stared out the window, feeling desolate and confused.

            Lily knew there was no mistaking this memory.  It was the day after her parents had died.

            "Lily," a cautious voice called from the hallway, "Are you okay?"

            "Go away!" she watched herself scream hoarsely at the door.

            That was when it opened slowly and James dropped the invisibility cloak, looking the most contrite she'd ever seen him.

            "Just go away, James," she mumbled almost incoherently and buried her head in her pillow.

            James appeared to have not heard a word he said as he walked over to her and took her in his arms.  "It'll be okay," he said soothingly, moving her hair from in front of her eyes.

            "How can you say that James?" she cried out, pushing his arms away, "Both my parents just died.  Nothing's ever going to be okay again."

            "I know," he said sadly, "But in time you'll get better…and I'm not going anywhere."

            Lily glanced at him miserably and didn't even think before she said the next thing.

            _Don't do it,_ Lily screamed inside her head, _Don't throw away the best thing that ever happened to you!_

            But even she couldn't change her own actions.

            "James, I don't think I should see you anymore," she said in between sobs, "I just don't think I can handle… a relationship with you right now."

            "_WHAT?_" James cried out in frustration and backed away from her, frowning, "You're just upset right now… You're… You're not thinking rationally."

            "James," she uttered, nearly choking from behind tears, "I don't want to see you die someday."

            "I'm not going to die anytime soon," he said angrily, folding his arms in his chest and getting up to head for the door.

            "James—," she called out desperately, "You don't know that."

            He turned around to look at her dejectedly, taking in what she was saying and looking like he hoped that maybe this was all some kind of sick joke.  "You don't really want to break up?"

            "James," she mumbled softly.  "Let's just stop it here before either of us gets hurt."

            "Well, it's a little too late for that," he replied quietly and exited the room with his cloak, leaving Lily to be tear-drenched sheets and the Ministry letter.

            Lily could feel tears coming on as she followed James out and sent a fleeting look back to her 7th year self who was current weeping recklessly into her pillow.

            Only she nearly tripped over someone sitting at the foot of the stairs, their head in their hands.

            It was James.

            And he was silently crying as he mumbled about how much he loved her…

            Once again, Lily was taken up by that force, that damn force, which tossed her back into that chilly oblivion of nothingness again.

            She didn't even bother to look around when she settled in the next memory.  She was too busy wiping a couple stray tears from her eyelashes and face.

            She did hear familiar voices and looked up to see that see that she was in The Leaky Cauldron.  She saw the current James and his friends sitting around a table, laughing and telling jokes.  She didn't remember any memory of hers starting like this…

            She walked towards their table, pulled up a chair, and sat down next to Remus and James.

            At that exact moment, she watched as Frank Longbottom entered the Leaky Cauldron.  He was greeted happily by James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.  As he got his drink from Tom, he anxiously sat down with the four, and Lily appearing like he had just heard a bit of good gossip.

            "You'll never guess who I just saw," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

            "Oh, we can try," James replied grinning back at him, "And don't you worry, we will."

            "A doxy?" Sirius quipped, taking a quick swig of his drink, "I hope it didn't bite you, mate."

            "He is acting a bit loony, isn't he?" Remus said with a laugh, and looked around at the flickering lights in the Leaky Cauldron.  Lily laughed along with the rest of them.  They all looked so content and happy.  _It's a nice memory, thank goodness_, Lily thought.

            "No, not a doxy in sight," Frank said, lightly hitting Sirius in the head for kicks, "Besides, I just saw—"

            "—A rather stupid man sitting next to you?" Peter interrupted, trying to be witty.  Instead, he got a punch in the arm from Sirius.

            "That was not funny, mate," Sirius replied, a bit peeved, while attempting to talk over the laughter.  "Not funny in the slightest."

            Lily giggled at their stupid antics as James spoke up.

            "Sprout a sense of humor, Padfoot," James commented good-naturedly, "It _was _just a joke."

            Sirius huffed loudly.

            "Well, anyway, you were saying something, Frank?" Remus asked, changing the subject.  Lily guessed he had done it for Sirius' sake.  After all, he could tell a joke just as good as the rest of them, but couldn't always take them well.

            "Oh, yes," his eyes got wider and he managed to stop chuckling for a moment, "I saw Lily.  Lily Evans.  She was in—"

            Now Lily was intrigued.

            He trailed off quickly, looking at Remus across the table.  He was motioning frantically at Frank to stop saying what Remus thought he was.

            James seemed to be just as intrigued as Lily, if not more.  He cast a glance in the direction of Remus, as he put down his drink with a look of wonder upon his face. "Do you have anything you'd like to tell us, Moony?"

            "Me?  No…nothing," he lied and waved his hand as if he was merely bored.

            _Did Remus know something her wasn't telling? _Lily wondered.        

            "Go ahead and say what you were going to, then, Frank."

            "Yeah, I'm intrigued," Sirius chimed in, after James.

            Remus looked at Frank and then back at James again. "Wait. Okay, maybe I _do_ have something to say."

            He paused for a second, and looked like he was trying not to stir up anything.

            "Lily had a date tonight," he stated simply, "She went out with Benjy Fenwick…from the Order.  I didn't tell anyone because I felt she should have a night free of sabotage."

            That was it?  Lily didn't seem at all surprised.  Why did he have to tell them everything (especially things about her that **did not **concern them)? 

            James looked the most stunned.  Sirius managed to sputter out a little bit of his drink from surprise.  Peter looked almost just as shocked as the other two.  Frank appeared to be confused and disgusted (as Sirius's spit ended up in his lap).

            "Did you aim that, or something, Sirius?"  Frank said, reaching over for a napkin.  Then he began to wipe his pants vigorously while shooting a glare at man next to him.

            Lily couldn't even work up the feeling to giggle or smile at the accident.  So no wonder her date had been so perfect!  Remus hadn't told the Marauders about it!  And that was why he had "wondered" if she was going to tell anyone!

            "Sorry, mate."

            And through this all, James was still speechless.

            "Why didn't you tell us?" he asked heatedly. "Benjy Fenwick is no better then the other wizards."

            Now, admittedly, Lily couldn't deny this.  He really wasn't a great guy, seeing as how he had practically ran out of the restaurant when Sirius mentioned anything about commitment.

            "I thought she deserved to have a night of peace.  And anyway, we know Benjy from the Order…He's not a bad guy," Remus shot back.

            "Well, how did the date go?" James questioned Frank, since he chose to ignore Remus.  Clearly he was very angry with Remus…but why?  Because he didn't have a chance to break up the date?  That was _not_ a reason!

            "It looked like it went okay," Frank answered, "I couldn't exactly tell."

            James shot Remus another look.

            "See!  It went _okay_…"

            "Oh, God _forbid_ Lily should be happy.  Did you ever think of _that_?" Remus retorted, and took a drink from his glass, "The last time I saw her truly happy was the day before her parents died, and before she broke up with you."

            Looks were shot around the table. Sirius stared at both Remus and James, knowing that Moony had just said the wrong thing.  He just patted his best friend lightly on the back.

            Lily was now thoroughly confused.  Why was everyone acting so careful around James because Remus had just brought back the memory of their break-up?  Sure, it could still bring a few tears to her eyes, as evident from before, but she had gotten over it, and she had assumed James had done the same. 

            Hadn't he?

            He had never really mentioned anything about it to her since that day.

            Was that why he had went around wrecked all her dates…because he wasn't over her?

            "You know," James mumbled, clearly thinking back to that day, "It killed me when we broke it off.  It killed me even more when she tried being friends with me.  And then to see her go out with all those guys…when she'd said she wasn't ready to have a relationship with me because her parents…she said she couldn't deal with…couldn't…didn't want to fall in love only to find me dead one day…."

            Lily felt her eyes welling up once more.  No wonder…It explained everything.  James still loved her.

            "It's hard, Prongs, I know…But you can't go breaking up Lily's dates forever.  This is going to sound cheesy—"

            "Doesn't it always?" Sirius said in an attempt to make James laugh.  He succeeded, but only barely…and he didn't crack up Lily at all.  She was still in complete shock.

            "—But," Remus just grinned uncharacteristically at Sirius, "If this thing between Lily and you is meant to be then it'll happen."

            "And if we find out that one of her dates is a scum-bag, then we'll put a stop to it," Peter added, suddenly coming alive.

            "Woo…Wormtail and Moony are getting sentimental on us," Sirius said, grinning mischievously at Frank.  "Get a muggle talk-show, wouldja?"

            Laughs went all around the table as Frank spoke up.

            "This is going to sound weird, but, breaking off Lily's dates?  What are you guys talking about?" He shot a glance at Sirius and James, "Or, _doing_, rather?"

            James glimpsed around at the other three and they exchanged looks that said quite plainly, _Should we let him in on it?_

            Suddenly Lily wanted out of this memory.  She needed her space, needed to think so things over.

            Oh god.  She didn't _love_ James, did she?

            Did she?

            She found herself unable to answer her own question.

            But before anyone could utter a word, the little bell on the opening door rang, interrupting their thoughts.

            "Hello boys!" a cheerful voice called as its owner walked into the pub, "How are you lads tonight?"

            "Just peachy," James mumbled through gritted teeth.

            "So we heard you had a date tonight with a certain redhead. How'd it go?"  Sirius asked Benjy and tried to play it cool.

            Benjy grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat down on the back of it.  Lily glared at him, even though he couldn't see her.  _Prat of a guy._

            "Good, I think, really good," he said, beaming at Frank, "Lily's just…she's great."

            _I'm great?  Just great?  Wow…that took **sooo** much thought._

            "Good for you," Remus smiled at him knowingly, "She is great, isn't she?"

            _Remus stop being nice.  Come'on._

            James just took a nip of his drink and settled on being moody.  Peter tried imitating him, just for fun, but couldn't.

            "Having a heart attack there, Wormtail?" Sirius whispered to him, as Benjy continued talking.

            "Yeah, I think it went real well.  In fact, I think the girl may be hooked on me.  Of course, Lily's no _Irma Pince_," he raised his eyebrows slightly as his said her name, thinking of the lush blonde, "But she'll do."

**_            I'LL DO!?!_** Lily thought, wanting to hex the stupid guy, _I'm practically James' **sunrise**, and yet I chose to go out with **him**? And for what?_

The world is incredibly ironic.

            Scratch that.  The world _sucks._

            James looked like he was about to punch Benjy's lights out as he started to say something to him. "I don't know who you—"

            Lily felt like egging him on to fight Benjy, even though he couldn't even hear her.

            "Oh!  That'd be Irma; over in the booth…I'd better go keep her company.  Later boys!"

            And with a quick wave, Benjy Fenwick scurried off.

            _I CAN'T BELIEVE I **EVER **CONSIDERED THAT GUY PERFECT!!_

            "Can I go punch him?" Sirius asked, almost in a whine.

            _Let him go do it, _Lily thought angrily, _I dare you._

            "Okay, Moony, tell me…Is _that_ enough to go interfere with the next date?" James questioned angrily, eyeing his friend closely.

            Remus just sat silently for a moment.

            "Do you want some help?"

            So no wonder they had interfered on that date.  Lily almost felt like thanking them now.  And to think that if they hadn't done anything, Lily could have been still going out with him.

            Hell, Lily wanted to take them all out for steak dinners now.

            But before she could think it over she was taken away again.  Only this time, she found herself back in her own apartment, in no one's memory.  Marcia had a firm grip on Lily's shoulders as she pulled her out of the Pensieve.

            "Are you okay?" she asked Lily and went of to the kitchen to get her a towel of some sort.

            When she came back, Lily was in a daze.

            "I think I'm okay, literally speaking, that is," she murmured, taking the cloth from Marcia and wiping her face.

            "Alright…spill it, Lily," Marcia demanded with a slight grin. "Was it something in the Pensieve?"

            Lily looked at Marcia in astonishment.


	14. Now it's Lily's Turn to

**_Marauders' Match-Making Inc._**

** Hey! I know it took me forever to write this. Lately my computer has been bugging the heck out of me and not letting me use things like the internet, Mircosoft Word, notepads, etc. So it's kind of obvious why I couldn't finish and post up the chapter. Well, anyway, I wanted to say thank you to all of you for reading and reviewing (don't worry; the story is not over just yet). You all have NO idea how much in means to me that you are enjoying reading this as much as I am enjoying writing it!**

** And have you heard (most likely you have…) that JK Rowling gave the title for the 6th book? _Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince_…Well that should be interesting…**

** By the way: This chapter is dedicated to Lacey, for it is her birthday today! And if I hadn't promised to write this for her by tonight, it wouldn't be here for you right now! So "yay!" for Lacey!**

** -Kait**

**Disclaimer:** The plot of this story is loosely based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only things that belong to me are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed, and the new characters that you don't know from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter Fourteen:** Now it's Lily's Turn to Cry, Lily's Turn to Cry…

"You knew about James' feelings?" Lily asked, dropping into the couch, "You knew the whole time?"

Marcia sat down in the chair adjacent to Lily's and stared at her intently as if she might be ready to blow up at any minute.

"Well…yeah," Marcia said, picking at the arm of the chair and giving her friend a slight half-smile, "It was sort of hard to miss, Lils."

Lily didn't chance her expression at all.

"Then how come I didn't see it?"

"I don't know," Marcia answered, looking up, "Probably because you were too caught up in looking for the perfect guy in all those dates."

"Why didn't anyone say anything about it?" Lily demanded, glancing at her angrily.

Marcia exchanged the look. "Oh yeah. I definitely want to be hexed into oblivion by James… I'm no prat."

Lily sat moodily silent.

"And besides," Marcia continued, "Would it have mattered anyway? You were too busy looking for a 'Prince Charming' to notice one right in front of you!"

"Maybe if someone had _said_ something…," Lily insinuated, getting up irritably and striding in the direction of the kitchen.

"Do you think that would have mattered, really? You never treated him as anything more than a friend. What was he supposed to think?" She shot back, following Lily into the kitchen.

Lily opened the freezer heatedly, took out her beloved ice cream and slammed it shut. Then, in two dramatic movements, she grabbed a spoon from the counter, not even caring if it was already dirty, and edged past Marcia in a huff.

"You know, if you keeping eating that stuff all the time you'll either become very fat or very broke," Marcia said with a sardonic air and grinned at her.

"Shove off," Lily replied between spoonfuls, as she curled up on the couch.

"Nice," Marcia muttered and sat back down in her armchair.

Lily glared at her with all the energy she could muster as she got up and flicked the television on. Then she tried to focus on the glow of the glass; its images on the screen no where near amusing.

"I tend to act this way when a friend lies to me," she growled, "Come back later and kill all the carolers that come around at Christmas. That'll just show all their parents at their nicest, won't it?"

"I never lied to you," Marcia went on, ignoring her friend's sarcastic quips, "I just kept a secret. And it was hard. You know me; I can't keep secrets…if anything you should be proud."

Lily almost sputtered out a bit of ice cream all over the couch.

Was this girl mad?

Why should she be proud of someone who didn't reveal a potential love-interest's feelings for her?

_Love-interest?_

Had Lily _really_ just thought that?

He couldn't be a 'love-interest,' he just couldn't.

He was sweet, understanding (and sometimes downright cocky) James. He was the guy who always got her to laugh when she really felt like spilling the contents of her stomach. Sure, he was there whenever she needed someone to talk to and cry to, but that didn't make him a…

Oh God.

He was. _He was._

He was a love-interest!

A suitor, potential boyfriend, admirer, inamorata… Whatever you chose to call it… That's what he was.

But how could this have happened without Lily even _realizing_ it?

It simply didn't make any sense.

"Lily?"

Lily brought her eyes back into focus and cleared her mind; only to send herself back into that harsh reality.

_James… As **more** than a friend…?_

She supposed the thought had made sense at one point, since she had dated him for quite some time at Hogwarts.

But still…

"Lily?" Marcia tried again, getting up only to seat herself back down near Lily. "Are you alright?"

Lily glanced at Marcia, snapping out of her vague trance, "W-what?"

"You love him, don't you?"

"_What?_" She questioned again, surprised that Marcia; of all people, would suggest such a thing. Miss. "There's-Always-More-Fish-In-The-Sea-and-Men-Are-The-Same-Way" giving advice and inferences on love? Since when was _she_ an expert? Lily got up quickly to shut off the television and return the ice cream to the freezer. Suddenly, she wasn't all that hungry. "In _love_ with him? I…don't know."

Marcia waited for her return to the couch and continued talking. Even when she came back, Lily couldn't displace the horrible look of uncertainly on her face when she sat down.

She thought about it for a second.

Was it such a bad thing if she had fallen for him?

_Well?_

"Hey, Lily?" Marcia said as she noticed Lily had paled considerably, "Just forget what I said…"

But she seemed to not take in this comment and got up to head for the door.

"Lily? Where are you going? It's _freezing_ out there!"

This only made Lily grab her coat on the way out the door. As soon as she was halfway down the hallway, she realized it was hailing outside; from watching the little particles of ice whip into the window frame. She re-thought her plan and backtracked to seize an umbrella from the cloak closet in her apartment.

"Lily?" Marcia questioned quietly when she got up to walk out the front door.

"I've got to find James," she mumbled and shut the door quickly behind her friend.

------------

Lily never did find him…Which was a bit ironic when you thought about it… She had searched and raided Remus' place as well as Sirius' (and returned to him the Pensieve while Sirius stood there smirking at her), the Leaky Cauldron, Three Broomsticks, and lastly, Peter's flat, where James barely ever was anyway. Now that she gave it some thought, she couldn't remember if James had ever been there to begin with.

The only place she didn't go was to James' own home. Now that she thought about it, days later, it seemed the most logical place for him to be. She wasn't really sure why she never visited it… Perhaps, as Remus suggested to her later, she really _didn't_ want to find him…

…At least not until she sorted out her own feelings.

But how could she do that unless she knew exactly what he felt for her?

URGH. It all sounded like something from a childish love at Hogwarts.

Except, it was without all the ridiculous drama and fights between friends.

But really… Was that all she felt for James? The encore of repressed feelings for him she hadn't let herself feel at Hogwarts? Nothing seemed to be making enough sense for Lily's liking. She liked things that were spelt out. That way, there was not room for error or confusion.

In Lily's opinion, confusion was the worst emotion you could feel.

This is because when you are confused, you have no idea what the hell you are feeling.

The only thing Lily knew at the moment was that she had to talk to James. He would be able to explain it… If he was willing to talk to her after the way she had treated him.

"Oh no," Lily groaned, not even realizing she was speaking out loud. "He's never going to talk to me again. I cannot believe I was so horrible towards him. I was worse than a screaming banshee…"

At this point, Marlene McKinnon walked through the door of Lily's temporary office (She was covering a shift for Gideon Prewett, who had some business to attend to with the Order) and stood patiently as she watched Lily talk.

"Leave it to you, Lily," she went on, chastising herself and not noticing Marlene's presence in her doorway. "Only you can drive away men faster than a Death Eater."

Marlene stood incredulously, her bright blue eyes staring intently at Lily and then decided to speak up.

"Er…Lily…Hello, but have you gone mad?"

"What?" Lily asked, blushing fast as she saw Marlene and stood up very quickly to acknowledge her company. "Sorry, personal problems."

"Yeah, I'll say," Marlene said with a small laugh and afterward took a step forward, starting to whisper, "Dumbledore wanted me to pass this on to you. It's from the Order."

"Oh," Lily mumbled, taking the package from her absentmindedly, "Thanks Marlene."

No problem, she was about to say when she tripped over a bit of the carpet on the way out. She caught herself quickly and flashed a faint smile at Lily, who was looking at her questioningly.

"You're okay then?"

"Yeah, of course," Marlene replied and turned a bit red, "I guess you aren't the only one with problems."

Lily dissolved into a little fit of giggles, until both girls were laughing out of sheer humiliation.

"You're alright, Evans." She said with a grateful smile and left the office.

And as soon as Marlene had left the room, Lily's faint smile disappeared. She began to search through more of Gideon's messy files and went on scolding herself; only this time, she made sure she did so silently.


	15. Marauders Strike Back

**_Marauders' Match-making Inc._**

**Okay, another update! It's in honor of someone's birthday coming up in about 2 days…Guess who's birthday? **

** BTW- So it's short. Sue me. LoL.**

** Also: Thank you to Katy (Grimm Sister) for your inspiring me. One of your old reviews (I re-read some reviews the other day) inspired a VERY important part of the next chapter or so that I was getting serious writer's block on. Particularly a comment you made on Chapter Ten (I think) about a misconception by one of the characters.**

** I hope you like this chapter. Hopefully the next update will be in a month, but I can't promise anything, sorry. So if it takes forever to write, just know that it's because I'm busy or my computer crashed.**

** -Kait**

****

**Disclaimer: **The plot of this story is loosely based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only things that belong to me are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed and the new characters that you don't recognize from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter Fifteen:** Marauders Strike Back (when they figure out what to do)

Lily, when her eyes met James', raced as quickly as she could from the Leaky Cauldron and through the winding streets and people in Diagon Alley. The potions and ingredients she was supposed to get for Dumbledore for the Order's latest project were long forgotten.

Almost just as she had dashed off, she heard a faint call from the pub she was currently set on getting as far as possible from.

Or was it all just in her imagination?

But she could have sworn she heard James' voice calling to her.

Not that she really cared. He didn't care for her, so why should she care for him?

He could go rot.

In hell.

OH, who was she _kidding?_ She didn't want him to die or rot or do any of the ridiculous things she had just thought of. She supposed she deserved this. After all, she had been very cruel towards him…and he hadn't done anything to justify her anger, when you really thought about it. Sure, he _had_ scared off boyfriends, but that was all because he still had feelings for her. And now as Lily stood in the streets of Diagon Alley, on the corner of Knockturn, she knew exactly what she was feeling.

She loved him.

Damn.

She really hadn't meant for this to happen.

But since when could you chose who or when you fall in love?

Lily really wished you could. Wished silently that you could pick when you fell in love…Like call up Cupid on the telephone and say, "It's ten oh nine pm on a Friday and I'd like to fall in love right now with…the next man on the street (if you were really desperate)."

So she loved him. But what could she do about it now?

Lily halted once she felt she was far enough away from the pub. Kicking loose stones from the alleyway's gray cobblestone streets, she started to walk slowly and calmly. At least that was the only way she could allow herself act and express her emotions, what, with all the dusty old shops with neatly printed signs and people happily walking around staring at all the Christmas decorations.

How _else_ could she act? She wasn't about to make some sort of scene.

She thought her situation through sadly, as she noticed a few children stopping just outside Zonko's and picking up some of the snow that blanketed the ground. She smiled slightly when she watched a sandy-haired boy aim a snowball at a young brown-haired girl. The girl retaliated faster than you could say 'fight' and was not the only one to do so. Another boy, quite the opposite of the first, with longer black hair joined in quickly and soon the sandy boy had twice as much snow in his face than he'd started with.

Lily sighed as she thought back to Hogwarts and all the times she had engaged in snowball fights with James, Sirius and her other school friends. She let her mind wander until it landed on the memories of James' from the Pensieve. He had felt so in love with her then…

Was it possible that James had already gotten over his feelings for her?

She suddenly felt very sick to her stomach as she remembered the date she had just witnessed.

She had already wasted nearly two years to act upon these feelings and yet, was she now restrained to bare the same kind of torture James had been condemned to?

(Wow, did this all seem _dramatic_… Like some stupid soap opera with it's overly cliché and outlandish situations…)

_Just shut up, _she told herself;_ Leave it for your friends to mock you._

Of course she couldn't do anything. She couldn't very well go and break up all of Marlene and James' dates, could she? That would be in no way fair to Marlene…and she _liked_ Marlene.

It was a shame. If she didn't know Marlene from the Order and found her to be a nice person, she would have sabotaged every date with James that she could.

Lily felt a wave of misery come over her. _What do I do now, then?_

It was before Lily even gave it a thought, that she apparated and found herself on Sirius' doorstep.

------------

"Can you believe five kids would be so much work?" Sirius raved, practically pacing around his apartment living room. "I was a kid once. I was _never_ that bad. I _never_ gave people any trouble. Well, hardly any. And my 'family' doesn't count."

Remus let out a strangled laugh as he let Sirius continue and tried to keep the rest of his laughter down to a minimum. "You—Trouble—_Never_."

"I know," Sirius agreed, rolling his eyes, "You have no idea how glad I was when Molly and Arthur came back; even though they were shocked to see the house was a bit…er…_messy_."

"What happened, Sirius?" Peter asked from his seat, urging him on, "What did they do?"

"I think you asked the wrong question, Peter," Remus said with a slight grin, "The question is, what did _Sirius_ do?"

Sirius smirked and moved closer to their chairs for dramatic effect. "You'll never believe it. The two older ones, Charlie and Bob—"

"You mean 'Bill'," Remus supplied.

"Right," Sirius said, nodding, "Charlie and _Bill_. They insisted on playing Quidditch in the house. Says their mother let them do it loads of times. And then the other one, the three-year-old, Percy, started yelling about how Molly never let them even _bring_ a broomstick into the house, no less _fly_ one. So then the other two started chasing him around, threatening to hit him with their brooms. So I had to take those away."

"You took their brooms away?" Remus interrupted, grinning at Peter who was laughing too hard to say anything. "Wow. You're turning into a regular house-witch. So when are you expecting?"

"Shut up," Sirius grumbled as he went on, "Then they told me they were going to hit me with their broomsticks once they got them back, so I sent them to their rooms. And then the two twins were crying for some reason I couldn't figure out, so I gave them my wand to play with—"

Peter shot up in his chair. _"You gave them your wand?"_

"Well, I can tell you now, that that was a stupid plan," Remus said, wondering how Sirius could be so thick.

Sirius murmured in agreement, "You have no idea just how 'stupid.' While they were still crying the little kid, Percy, kept telling me, 'Don't give them wand. Give them diaper change, milk. You not a good babysitter.' So then I got fed up and sent him to _his _room."

"Wow, Padfoot, you really don't like children."

He glared Remus and put his arms across his chest. "Well not when they come in _fives,_ mate."

No one chose to argue with that point, so Sirius continued with his story of his eventful night.

He was getting to the part where the twins had started blowing things up, armed with his wand and Bill and Charlie had stolen back their brooms; contenting themselves with flying around the downstairs while knocking many vases and clocks over—when a knock came at the door.

Sirius stopped his narrative, much to the protest of the other two ("Keep going! "Let the machine get it.") to answer the door.

He was particularly concerned when he opened the door to see Lily looking distressed and a bit like she was about to cry.

"Lily?" He stood there shocked. "What's wrong?"

She just smiled faintly at him. "C-could I come in?"

"Yeah," he replied without a second thought and ushered her in, "Of course."

By this time, Remus had come to the door to see who Sirius was talking to. He wasn't surprised to see Lily there, but rather, he had a look on his face that suggested he was wondering why Lily seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Lily?" he asked, clearly just as concerned as Sirius. Peter soon appeared behind him. "What's wrong?"

"You were just at the Leaky Cauldron, weren't you?" Peter said, venturing a guess.

All three stared at him incredulously. "How did you know?" Lily asked, nodding to confirm his suspicion.

"Oh," Remus said softly, realization dawning on him almost instantly.

It took Sirius a little bit longer to figure it out as he slung his arm around Lily's shoulders and led her to the living room.

"So…You saw James and Marlene, then?"

Lily nodded miserably again as Sirius gently pushed her into the couch.

_Why did I come here,_ Lily wondered, _I don't want to talk about this. Not with **James'** best friends!_

She almost made a move to get out of the room and leave but Sirius, who was watching her closely, noticed and gave her a look that said very clearly, 'Stay.'

Lily sighed and stayed rooted to her spot in the chair.

_I don't know why I deal with this._

But she knew why. She currently had no where else to run to.

"So what happened?"

"I saw James and Marlene, for starters," Lily mumbled bitterly, answering Remus' question while the boys seated themselves.

Peter snorted quietly, though not meaning to be rude and tried to cover it with a loud cough. "Well, that was obvious."

Lily glared at him from her armchair, as did Remus. Both appeared to be extremely displeased that Peter was being such an insensitive prat.

"Shut up and sit silently, Wormtail," Sirius shot at Peter, giving him an annoyed look. "Did James say anything?"

"No," Lily mumbled, taking a tissue from the mahogany end table and started etching her initials in the wood. "Sorry," she added, removing her hand from the table, as she noticed Sirius watching her.

"S'okay. My dad's anyway, so I don't really need it."

It was pretty clear to the three boys sitting there that Lily definitely had feelings other than the normal friendly ones for James. Even Peter and Sirius (who could be very thick sometimes) could see that much.

Soon it seemed that Lily had realized their perception and felt no need to do anymore damage by talking to them more. As good listeners as they may be, she couldn't be certain that her confusing feelings wouldn't reach James' ears.

Ears!

Suddenly, an excuse to get out of there dawned on her…She still had to get the goblin ears and black beetle eyes for Dumbledore's project!

"Umm," she started slowly, trying not to look suspicious, "I had better get going…I still have ingredients to get for the Order."

She looked around for their reply while she began to get up out of the chair.

"Uh…Sure," Sirius answered, not quite sure what to believe as he watched Remus get out of his chair and go in the direction of the front hall.

"So we'll see you at the next meeting, then?"

Lily smiled slightly at Peter in reply. "Yeah."

She got up hastily and said a quick thank you to Remus for picking up her coat from the foyer. She wasted no time showing herself out the door as the boys sat, partly stunned.

Peter was the first to speak up from his armchair.

"So what do we do now?"

"You mean about Lily and James?" Sirius asked, having no plan in mind. He took a sip of his drink as he thought the situation over.

"No, about Cleopatra and Antony. Yes, Lily and James," Peter said, exasperated.

Sirius just looked annoyed when Remus tried to stop the potential fight. "This is no time to be stupid, Peter. If you have something to say, spell it out."

"I don't know," Sirius murmured aloud. "But we'll think of something."


	16. We Always Knew Remus Was the Smart One

**_Marauders' Match-making Inc._**

**Hey… It's me again. I have just a few things to say, mostly to the people who read "Hypocrites" on the Harry Potter boards. I'm really sorry about the boards thing. I guess that thread will eventually be deleted, which is fine; I haven't posted there in months… But it just really sucks to not be able to talk to you guys. And to Kaitlyn—I can't find your thread!! Can you give me the link, if it's not "archived" (curses WB)?**

**This chapter is dedicated to my friends on the HP boards— Lauren, Missy, Kaitlyn, Jessie, Lacey, Sasha and many more… You know who you are and this one, guys, this chapter is dedicated to you. You guys are my inspiration to write since all of you are awesome authors. Talk to you soon (hopefully and if the WB will permit it).**

**By the way-- Updates may be very slow (like this one...but hopefully not as long) because I've been very busy lately. So please be patient. I don't enjoy having people yell at me because I didn't update quick enough. I'm sorry, but I do have other things to do.**

**-Kait**

**Disclaimer: **The plot of this story is loosely based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only things that belong to me are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed and the new characters that you don't recognize from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter Sixteen:** We Always Knew Remus Was the Smart One

Remus Lupin was sitting comfortably in an armchair by the fire, peacefully reading a book, when a disturbingly loud knock came from his door.

"Moo-ony…," the voice called, sounding oddly like Sirius after too much rum.

Remus glanced carefully at the clock before he went to the door. He almost felt like letting Sirius think no one was home. He really couldn't deal with him right now…There was only ten minutes until…well…he had to leave for…he just, he knew he had to leave soon.

"If you're drunk, no one's home!"

"MOONY! Let me in!"

This time with the yell, it was accompanied by a number of poundings on the door. They were so loud that Remus was getting a slight headache as he started to cover his ears.

That was the perfect way to describe Sirius, Remus decided. He was, quite simply, a slight headache.

"Fine, fine," Remus muttered, getting up to unlock the door and reluctantly let a disgruntled Sirius through it.

Sirius gave him an annoyed look as he passed by him, "And for the record, I am _not_ drunk." He paused for a moment, in thought. "That was yesterday."

His companion just ignored him and busied himself with inspecting his door. There were loads of cracks from Sirius' pounding, he noted.

Sirius, on the other hand, sat down in Remus' chair, waiting impatiently.

"You know what, Padfoot," Remus started, feeling quite peeved as he eyed his door, "If doors could talk, they would send you heartfelt death wishes."

Sirius sat up much straighter. "Good thing they can't talk, then."

His friend just seemed to be overacting too much, Sirius figured. Quite suddenly, though, Remus dropped the matter of his door and focused on getting Sirius to _leave. _"So what are you doing here?"

"Can't a friend visit every so often? And I wanted to talk to you."

"Well, aren't I lucky," Remus quipped under his breath. "What about?"

"I came here to talk about a plan for the Lily and you-know-who thing," Sirius looked behind him quickly at the door, complete with a nice little welcome mat that had been thrown in the corner.

"What, James?"

"Shhh…," Sirius chastised him quietly, "James came with me; he stopped down on the 3rd floor to talk to Frank."

"Well?" Remus asked, checking the clock again, "What do you have in mind?"

Sirius looked around at Remus' flat, taking in the smell of burn toast and coffee and glancing at the patched up couch and worn-in throw rug. "I don't know. I thought maybe you'd have an idea."

"Well, how about this," he answered with a quick thought, "How about you and I meet up with Lily tomorrow at the Three Broomsticks?"

Sirius didn't even bother to think of his schedule and said, "Sure. See you there Moony."

"See you where?"

James entered the flat, pushing the already open door wider and grinned. "Is it to find a new best friend, because you know, if it is…I'm all for it."

"No where," Sirius said quickly to cover up his blunder, "We are not going anywhere."

Remus backed away from Sirius and went into the kitchen. He was just so fed up with this. Why did everyone want to appear at the most inconvenient time? He had somewhere to be! As he picked up a file of papers, he replied wearily, "Apparently."

"So where are you going, then?"

"Well, right now, I have to go to," Remus' voice faltered for a moment as he came out from the kitchen. He didn't want to _lie_ to them. "A _meeting_."

"Oh, sounds serious," Sirius said with feigned concern and turned to grin slyly at James, then he went on, "Do you want us to come?"

"Of course he does," James replied for Remus, his eyes shining laughingly, "We go everywhere—"

"Listen," Remus interrupted hastily, "I have to get going. If I'm late, the person I'm meeting won't be very happy."

The two others in the room looked a bit shocked at his tone. They simply just stared at Remus' own blank face that was hiding _something…_What exactly that something was, they had yet to find out… but rest assured they would try.

"It's just a friend from the Order." Remus tried to assure them nothing was wrong. "He just needs my help with some Order work."

James' frown eased into a smile as he replied. "Well that makes sense. You're the cleverest person I know."

"What about me?" Sirius questioned in an annoyed tone. "I'm not exactly stupid."

"No comment."

"Agreed," Remus said, joining in. He was just happy that his friends weren't angry about him not being able to be around as much…What with job interviews…and other things to worry about.

"Well…we'll go now, right Padfoot?"

Sirius' face lit up into a bright smile. "Yeah! Let's go visit Frank." And with that he walked off and out the door, "Until tomorrow, Moony!"

"Poor Frank Longbottom," Remus murmured jokingly with a grin on his handsome face. "We knew him well."

"We did. At least he's not drunk." James laughed and made a move for the door. "I'd better go and save him from making a bet with Sirius anyway."

"He always loses, doesn't he?"

"Yes… Even when he's not had one too many… So, I'll see you later Moony?"

"Yeah," Remus said with a thin smile and ushered him out, "Now go save Frank."

"Right you are," James replied and dashed out the doorway with a quick goodbye.

Remus, the only remaining person in the room heaved a sigh. He'd covered his tracks for the moment.

What he couldn't tell them was why he kept lying and stating that he had job interviews. He'd been helping Gideon Prewett all this time with work on Ministry files and helping him through the fact the Voldemort was after him. Once you're told that Voldemort is out to kill you, your self-esteem pretty much plummets. Which is why Remus was spending so much time trying to make sure he didn't go insane and end up dying in St. Mungo's…

Remus didn't quite understand why Gideon wouldn't let Remus tell his friends where he kept having to run off to. But apparently, Gideon claimed that he didn't want anyone to treat him oddly or not talk to him for fear of feeling Voldemort's wrath as well.

Remus sighed again slowly dropped into his couch.

Was he going to have to keep lying forever?

------------

Lily sat angrily at a table in the Three Broomsticks. She felt foolish sitting there while the Hogwarts students milled around buying drinks and exchanging early Christmas presents. At least she didn't feel old, she considered. A total of five male students had tried to sit with her and a couple even attempted to hit on her.

Since she wasn't interested and didn't feel much like moving or talking, it was very lucky for her that Sirius, seated next to her, had very imaginative ways of scaring the off while also scaring them out of their wits. The first teenager had been easy enough. He just casually slung his arm around her shoulders and shot the kid a murderous look.

Once again, Lily had a solid opinion.

Thank heavens for Sirius.

True, she hadn't had the same thought when he dragged her off the couch from under her comfy, quilted blankets and away from her always reliable ice-cream to come here.

Ice Cream. That was reliable.

Guys… Not so much.

Guys could rip your heart out and smash it to pieces…But ice cream, the worst ice cream could do was give you a brain freeze.

Personally, Lily would rather be frozen all over than have a defective and damaged heart.

Lily thought for a second. Is it bad to think about ice cream this much? Can you gain pounds by just thinking about it? Lily highly doubted it but she supposed anything was possible.

_OH MY—, _she thought thoroughly shocked with herself, _I sound just like SIRIUS when he's being a loony._

_Bad thoughts! Get the stupid thoughts out of your head. Once they're in there they never vacate the premise!_

"Knut for your thoughts, honey," Sirius said sweetly…and loudly, to scare off another teenager. He squeezed her shoulders tightly as he brought her crashing into a big hug. It felt like she had just been attacked by a fuzzy children's program star. Like the Cookie Monster or something…

_You don't want to hear my thoughts,** honey.** The might sound a bit like yours…though probably not at the current moment._

Lily gasped for a second, being taken of guard and whispered as best she could, "Sirius…I need to _take in air_ occasionally."

"That's a boring thought," he joked, keeping her in his tight grasp as he waited for the boy to leave. "That's right. Move your arse," he mumbled under his breath. Lily didn't say anymore as she couldn't for lack of air.

"Hullo," Remus said smiling at the pair and grabbing a chair to sit with them then continued, "Padfoot, if you want Lily to die, go ahead and keep smothering her."

To Lily's happiness, Sirius loosen he grip around her. "Sorry, Lil…," He turned to Remus to explain, "It's just… There was this guy… He was about to make a pass on Lily."

Remus raised his eyebrows and laughed while Lily coughed to get her breath back, "So Lily can't tell them off herself?"

"She can," Sirius said a bit guiltily (It seemed that every time he talked to Remus he felt guilty for _something._), "She just didn't feel like it."

"So now he's your flunky?" Remus asked with a sardonic grin spread across his face. The comment was not really directed towards Lily; he just wanted to see if Sirius would bite at that remark.

He was right in thinking he would as Sirius sent him a look.

"NO." Sirius answered indignantly, "I was just helping to get rid of—,"

"Hey," Lily interrupted, waving her hands between the two guys, "The next time a guy tries to flirt with me, _I'll_ tell him off. How's that?"

Remus grinned knowingly as he watched a certain someone walk into the pub. "That sounds perfect."

"Well, then," Lily laughed as Sirius ordered another drink. "You're certainly smug today. Did you finally get that job you were fighting for at the department in St. Mungo's?"

Remus looked away from the only person over eighteen currently seated at the bar to answer her question. "Not exactly, but soon I'm hoping. The job doesn't have many other applicants, from what I'm told... So it seems to be going that way."

"That's good news, Moony. Better than the rejection letters you've been collecting."

"Wow…," Lily said as she shot Sirius a look, "You're really sensitive, aren't you?"

"I am when I need to be," he answered as he accepted the incoming drink from Madame Rosmerta. "Thanks, love."

Rosmerta grinned at him with her thin but pretty face and giggled as she walked away.

"It's a running joke between us," Remus murmured with a chuckle.

Sirius gulped down a bit of his rum. "I've seen his apartment. Letters everywhere. He has a thing for the rejection ones though… They're pinned to the walls."

Remus frowned at Sirius. "It's not _that_ funny."

"I never said it was, mate."

Lily giggled as Remus just rolled his eyes an attempted to change the subject. "So have you talked to James yet?"

The smile dropped quickly from Lily's face. What could she say without sounding stupid? What was there to say, really?

"No," she started slowly not daring to look either of them in the eyes. "I'm not about to try and break up Marlene and him, even if I could."

"Are you kidding? James would—"

But Sirius never got a chance to finish his sentence as someone had just come up from behind Lily to make him speechless.

"Sirius?"

Lily just turned around to see what he was staring at, while Remus just kept grinning because a plan was beginning to take shape in his mind.

She felt just as shocked as Sirius when she saw him.

She dismissed the horrible feeling of disappointment that had found its way into her stomach. She had been hoping it would was… Well she knew what she had been hoping but what made her think she would have been right? He was probably off with Marlene somewhere admiring the sunset or something cliché like that. And what had she been hoping he would do? Proclaim his _'undying'_ love for her and then kiss her deeply? Shower her with rose petals and then kiss her into oblivion? If that was the case, her hopes were _way_ too high.

But _Gilderoy Lockhart?_

_In the flesh?_

This was hell all over again.

"Gilderoy?"

She paused as he smiled at her.

"Yes, it's me," was the stupid answer from his mouth.

Remus sat and watched interestedly. Even he did not know what would happen next. Sirius, on the other hand, got up to get another drink. As much as he wanted to tell off Gilderoy, her couldn't. Damn Remus probably even saw him walk in as he made him agree not to scare off anymore guys.

"What are you doing here?"

Damn Remus… He probably saw him at the bar or something when he had her promise she would tell off the next guy_. HOW DID HE KNOW GILDEROY WOULD BE THE NEXT GUY?_

She should have faced it years ago. Remus was _always_ right, no matter what the situation or the circumstances.

"I came over here to see if you and your wonderful friends wanted to hear about my latest adventure. After all, I remember you did say how much you liked my other stories," he smiled his "Most Charming Award" smile as he sat down next to her. Sirius, however did not seem to be fazed as he came back and found Gilderoy in his chair.

"Find a chair other than mine, mate," he growled and sat down with his rum in the chair Lockhart quickly vacated.

Lily took this as an opportunity to get rid of him and quickly stood up, beckoning Sirius and Remus to do the same.

Sirius sighed and went back over to the bar to pour his drink down the drain and pay. Remus smiled encouragingly at Gilderoy and followed Sirius to the bar to pay for his share.

_Great… Thanks for the moral support boys._

_Can always count on you two, can't I?_

"Listen Gilderoy," Lily coaxed, putting on her sweetest smile, "I would love to hear more of your amazing stories, but tonight I have to head home. I've got the early shift at the Ministry."

In all truthfulness, this was not a lie at all. Except, if Gilderoy had not shown up, she probably would have gone home drunk.

…And would have ended up singing Christmas carols off-key with Sirius all the way home.

He nodded. "I understand. Of course. We will have to meet another night so you can hear my marvelous story. Would it be okay if I owled you?"

Lily almost panicked for a moment. "How about if I owled you?"

"That would be fine," he said, smiling adoringly at her.

She felt disgusted then. She felt utterly disgusted with herself. How could she be so vile towards him even if he _was_ the most boring, self-absorbed person to walk the planet?

"Alright, then… I'll see you around, Gilderoy," she said, turning to catch up with Remus and Sirius at the counter.

"Good bye, Lily," he replied as he watched her go fondly.

_What a mess of things_, she thought as the boys ushered her out the door, _What a mess of things I make…Even with men I'm **not** interested in!_

She sighed and went on feeling dejected as the two guys walking with her began hatching plans while keeping her moods under their watchful eyes.

**A/N - Does anyone know how to get ffnet to let you indent? It's not letting me (as you can tell, I'm sure) and I'm so angry at them right now.**


	17. 3 Driven Friends, 2 Love Doves & Idiot

**_Marauders' Match-making Inc._**

**Hey… Surprise, surprise… Look who finally decided to get moving and write a chapter! Sorry this had taken so long. My computer thought it would pull a fun joke on me and on let me open any Word documents on my computer. Needless to say, I was angry (especially because I had a couple of projects to work on that were saved on the computer). Other than that I really have no excuse except lack of motivation, which after thinking about it, really is not an excuse. So once again, LOTS OF APOLOGIES. Well… anyway, enjoy this chapter. I'm estimating only about 1-2 chapters left… Even though my estimating skills are (to put it kindly) really bad.**

**To reader who wondered if Petunia ever found out what happened at her wedding-She remembers nothing about the after party and the line dancing. She was beyond drunk at that point, especially if she was line dancing.**

**_Quick note:_ For more fun with the chapter, sing the below chapter title (it's in **_italics_**) to the tune of "Twleve Days of Christmas" subbing the title for the part that goes "three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree." Well…it made me laugh…so I left it there.**

**-Kait**

**Disclaimer: **The plot of this story is loosely based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only things that belong to me are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed and the new characters that you don't recognize from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter Seventeen:** _Three Driven Friends, Two Love-Doves, and an Idiot Caught Up in His Smile_

"Have the letters been sent?"

Sirius looked up from the Ministry file he was currently mesmerized by to answer Remus' question. "Mine has, but Peter… I have no idea what he did with his letter."

Remus sat down at the kitchen table at Sirius' flat and stared at his friend as he watched him apparate from one place in the living room to another.

Pop!

He was at the coffee table.

Pop!

He was next to Remus in the kitchen.

"I really hope you are not going to be a prat and split yourself in half in the process of doing that," Remus commented nonchalantly as he glanced down and read the headlines on evening edition of the Daily Prophet.

Sirius scowled and apparted next to an armchair in the living room and decided to sit down in it.

"It was for the ministry," he said plainly, as though he was talking to an old uncle who took the fun out of everything, "They're going to test us on how fast we can apparate."

"So when you fight a Death Eater, he won't be able to kill you before you can get out of there?" Remus asked, a tinge of a sarcastic tone in his voice as he kept reading.

"Yeah," Sirius grinned slightly and walked towards Remus, "You wouldn't want me to die, would you, Moony?"

"Eh," was the joking response. "Depends."

Peter looked puzzled as he walked through the small foyer and entered the room. In fact, now that Sirius thought about it, maybe Peter always had a permanent look of confusion on his face. Since he'd known him, at least.

"What depends?"

"Whether or not I die," Sirius responded. "Did you owl your letter?"

Peter still looked puzzled. Prat, Sirius thought.

"Yes. James's letter is on its way. Who did you take?"

Peter's confused look on his face was now replaced by an eager one. Sirius just rolled his eyes a bit; he was trying to be cool, even though he was every bit as excited about their plan as Peter was. As for Remus…Well, who ever knew what Remus was thinking?

"Gilderoy. Remus took the other one… he can fake James' handwriting better than I can, apparently," Sirius said and flung himself into the armchair again, landing a bit awkwardly. "Bloody hell that hurt…"

"I can," Remus stated, glancing up to see Sirius keel over on the floor in a little bit of pain. "How many times have I told you not to do that, Padfoot? Seven out of ten times, this is the result."

Peter looked amused as Sirius responded.

"Too many, mate. And after a bit the pain goes."

"Oh and I believe it. You just keep telling yourself that until the pain does go away," Remus replied, pretending to read on as he watched to make sure Sirius got up alright.

"Umm… I have a quick question before you two start fighting or something…," Peter chimed in, looking nervously at Sirius' feigned imitation of rage which disappeared just as quickly as it had come. "When are we leaving for the Leaky Cauldron?"

"In what…," Sirius glanced questioningly over at Remus to confirm the time, "20 minutes?"

"That sounds about right."

Sirius smiled a bit shrewdly at Peter and said, "Oy, Wormtail! Want to try jumping into the chair too?"

"If you do that Peter, your life is in your own hands… I refuse to take any blame for your injury," Remus murmured as Peter smartly declined.

--------------------------

Lily Evans stood in front of her closet, looking through numerous outfits and coming up empty-handed. She could not believe she could not find anything to wear. She should be able to come up with something. After all, it wasn't like she had a date with James or something; she was just going out to drinks with Sirius, Remus, Peter and Marcia. She felt like she should feel comfortable around them but instead she felt her stomach twist into several tight knots.

Ever since she had been found out by the boys to have feelings for James, she felt slightly uneasy around them. They were James' best friends, so who knew what they were telling him behind closed doors. Lily groaned; this only made her want to avoid them more.

_But a night out would be good_, she told herself. _I need something to forget this huge mess I created for myself._

At least she could feeling a bit better because of the fact that she was not on some kind of date with Gilderoy. A week ago she had seen him at the pub and he still was shooting her winks and hopeful glances whenever he happened to pass by her on the street. It was enough to make Lily feel very angry with herself for, well... for lack of a better phrase, leading him on.

As she looked in the mirror one last time to check her outfit, she had no idea what the Marauders were planning on the other side of the city.

--------------------------

The trio arrived in a nick of time at the Leaky Cauldron as they encountered Marcia at the bar.

"So what's the entire plan?"

She sat from a bar stool, dangling her crossed feet playfully as look of curiousity on her facial features let them know she was expecting a truthful response.

Remus looked at Sirius questioningly as he sat down next to Marcia, "You didn't tell her the whole plan?"

"Well...," Sirius trailed off, looking for words. "I told her enough, but not so much that she might be intrigued to tell Lily."

"Why would I say anything?" Marlene said looking a bit peeved that she was not percived as trustworthy, "If Lily knew we were going to set her up, she'd be furious."

Peter looked horror-stuck as he noticed someone behind Marcia that had just caught the end of the conversation. The others turned to see what Peter was staring at and froze like they had just been caught stealing gold from Gringotts. It was Lily. She stood in shock; the situation not quite sinking in. Her face looked contorted, and showed the betrayal she felt. Gathering all the information she had just heard and witnessed, she turned to leave.

"Lily, wait," Sirius called, rushing over and taking her by the arm to keep her from leaving. "We're only trying to help."

"I don't really care what you are _trying _to do. I don't want to be set up," she said, her tone carrying a faint bit of anger. Lily tried to wring her wrist from Sirius' grasp as Remus came over to help explain.

"Lily, it's not really what you think. If you give us a chance, we will explain."

She laughed sarcastically as she responded, "Oh, so I'm not being set up on a date? What am I doing then? Being auctioned off? Will Sirius be the auctioner and the highest bidder gets a free bag of Zonko products if they win me?"

"Hey, if it's an auction you want, I bet every wizard in this bar would bid on you," Sirius joked, boldly putting an arm around Lily and looking in the corner at one of the creatures drinking at the bar, "But no bidding for you, Samuel, you're part goblin."

"Uh, guys," Marcia interjected from her bar stool, "I hate to interrupt but Lily's 'date' is about to walk in."

Lily's breath was caught in her chest as she spotted him. His defined and attractive face came into view as he spotted her and smiled, while pushing open the door to the pub.

...Gilderoy Lockhart?

"You set me up with _him_?" Lily muttered through her teeth. "Sirius, you witnessed our last date first hand. It was not something I wanted to repeat."

Sirius said nothing and dropped his hand from Lily's shoulder as Gilderoy approached them.

"I have to say, Lily," Gilderoy started, brushing his hair out of his eyes to let his face and dazzling smile be seen better, "I was pleasantly surprised to recieve your owl yesterday. Well, not so much surprised as expecting it, but nonetheless, I hope you recieved my owl back."

She stood in shock for a second before Sirius poked her in the ribs, awaking her senses once again. "Oh, yes, Gilderoy. I did. It was... eloquent."

"I'm glad to hear that," he replied easily with a smile.

"Well, I, uh...have to talk to Sirius for a second," she stated and forced herself to smile back at him, "Ministry business. It will just take a second."

He nodded and pointed to the right, "I will go find a suitable table."

Gilderoy barely noticed as Lily grabbed Sirius forcefully and led him back to the Marcia and Peter at the bar, with Remus trailing. Before saying another word, she glanced over at Gilderoy and shuddered.

"What were you all thinking?"

"That the stupid prat showed up earlier than he was supposed to," Sirius grumbled, rubbing the spot on his arm where Lily had gotten hold of him.

Lily looked puzzled. "What on earth does that mean?"

"Well," Remus began, guiltily, "Sirius sent a letter to Gilderoy saying that you wanted to meet him here tonight. We never said it was a date, he just percieved that part wrong."

"What did you expect...," Sirius mumbled as Marcia stiffled a laugh.

"Then I sent a letter to Marlene--"

Lily questioned him, "Why would you do that?" She crossed her arms on her chest in confusion as it went unnoticed that Peter had just leaned on the bar counter and knocked over his drink.

"Because," Remus said, explaining as much as he could while obviously keeping an eye out for someone else he expected to enter the pub, "She is a fan of Gilderoy's and I know she would want to meet him."

"Really...," Lily murmered.

"She told me at an Order Meeting a couple months ago. She was reading a magazine article about him, so it came up."

Sirius smirked. "Or else Remus was reading the article too."

Remus rolled his eyes as Sirius went on taunting him. Peter at this time was getting help from Marcia, cleaning up the spilt drink, but managed a chuckle.

"You need to find yourself a girl, Padfoot. You're starting to get on my nerves more than usual," Remus said and took a sip of the drink Tom had just passed over to him.

Before Sirius even had a chance to respond to the comment, Lily chimed in. "So you want me to introduce her to Gilderoy?"

Sirius, suddenly seeming bored with the current conversation walked away sulking. Lily watched as his drink splashed over the brim every now and then since he was carrying it with no interest in how it spilled whatsoever.

"Yes."

"But why?"

Remus laughed and the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile. "I don't know about you, but I might want to save my date from Sirius, if you know what I mean."

Lily spun around in horror only to find that Sirius sitting at a table, talking to Gilderoy with a smirk on his face.

_Sirius, you prat. It's bad enough I have to deal with him... Now you want to put even more rubbish thoughts in his head?_

"For the record, Remus, this conversation is _not_ over," she called as she stormed off to get Sirius away from her 'date'.

She managed to reach him just as he was explaining everything to Gilderoy.

"...Lils brought you here to meet a fan. Marlene, that's her name. So, is it alright if she intrudes for a bit while you two are on your date?"

Gilderoy smiled and tried to hide his happiness. "Well, if it is for a fan... Then, yes, I would be more than happy to talk to her for a bit."

"Of course you would," Sirius said, smiling his most charming smile. "And by the way, Gilderoy, when she comes in, go up to her and say, 'Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir.' She'll love it."

"_Sirius! _What in bloody hell are you thinking? Gilderoy, don't you dare!"

Sirius smirked at her as Lily sat down, looking quite scanalized.

"Right, Gilderoy. Lily's right," Sirius laughed, while nodding his head. "That's a little to close to the truth for you. You have to make it sleazier and still be able to show that 'charming' smile of yours."

"My smile is quite charming, isn't it?"

Gilderoy smiled as bright as he could while Lily tried to cover her laugh with a cough. This left Sirius to respond in his usual sarcastic manner.

"It is the most charming smile _I've _ever seen."

"I thought so," Gilderoy stated, clearly very pleased with himself.

Lily glanced out the window as Gilderoy smiled some more. The streets of muggle London were so desolate around the Leaky Cauldron this time of night. A random streetlight caught her eye as it flickered warily on and off, as if it could not decide which way it liked better. The pub felt remarkably cozy and warm compared to the deserted streets outside. Being in the Leaky Cauldron with her friends, despite the fact that they were sitting on the other side of the pub with knowing smiles on their faces, made her feel a little bit more like she was getting back to normal. Forgetting how she felt about James...

"Hello...," a voice from behind her called, interrupting her somewhat tranquil thoughts, "Have either of you seen James?"

Marlene. Just who Lily was in the mood to see.

Not.

"Uh, no, actually," Sirius replied saving Lily the breath, "But would you care to sit down with us while you wait?"

Marlene giggled and donned a sparkling smile as she spotted Gilderoy who clearly had just spotted her, considering the smile he was sporting on his own face. "Sure, that'd be nice."

Lily sat, disgusted. She had to introduce this girl to _her date?_

And who _giggles_ anyway?

Sirius poked Lily on the back and once he had her attention, nodded towards Gilderoy.

"Oh," Lily said quickly. "Marlene this is Gilderoy; Gilderoy, Marlene."

Marlene smiled shyly at Gilderoy and started, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I am a big fan of yours."

Gilderoy suddenly looked even more interested in her as he leaned a little bit over the table to talk to her. "Books or looks?"

"Both, actually."

She blushed so rosy that he let out a quiet chuckle and they exchanged another set of smiles.

"Gilderoy, Marlene, would you excuse Lily and I for a moment?" Sirius interjected with ease and grinned at the pair.

_That was easy enough,_ he thought. _Remus is a darned genius._

"Of course," Marlene replied and with a flutter of her hand dreamily waved them off.

And at that, Sirius grabbed an amazed Lily by the hand and led her back over to their group at the bar. Lily could barely walk, she was in such a state of shock. What had just happened?

"Well that took no time at all," Remus said, content with what he had just witnessed.

Lily still felt bewildered by everything. She pointed at the two, that were clearly enamored with one another. "Did... did you want that to happen?" She asked, feeling almost dizzy.

The look of bewilderment on her face made Remus laugh. "Did you not want that to happen?"

"Oh no, I'm pleased," she clarified, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. "I just did not expect something like that to happen."

Sirius spoke up in the typical joking manner of his as she scratched her head in confusion, "She was just surprised at how fast he moved on."

Marcia hopped down from her stool to hug Lily with feigned sympathy. "I'm sorry, but did you not realize how vain he is from the first date? Because I would hope you do not need your memory refreshed."

"No, I don't need that," she said with a smile and shook her head. "What I need is a drink. Tom, what have you got?"

As she ordered her drink and sat on a bar stool next to Sirius and Marcia, she thought of the effects of Marlene and Gilderoy hitting it off. What did this mean for her and Gilderoy? Would he stop trying to date her? She sure hoped so. And what about Marlene? Did she have anyone else in her life? She had James...

"What are we thinking?" Lily questioned her companion, her mind finally putting two and two together. "We can't let Marlene go out with Gilderoy. What about James?"

Remus set his drink down, glancing at Lily's frantic face and putting on a reassuring smile, "Don't worry. We have it under control."

"And besides," Sirius added, "This would be only their third date. They are not 'going out' so she can enjoy spending time with someone else."

"As can he," Peter chimed in.

"Why would you want him to be with Marlene anyway?" Sirius asked. Then raised his eyebrows ever so slightly as he tried to be sutble. "Wouldn't you rather him be _single_?"

Lily thought about it and looked at Sirius sincerely. "I just want him to be happy."

A little ways from her, Peter snorted. "Well that's kind of you."

"Yeah," Sirius chimed in, "Considering the only way James is ever going to be happy is if he is with you."

Lily appeared shocked as she moved her glance away from the pair who were now making these sickening googly eyes at one another.

_With me?_

_James wants to be with me? Still?_

_What in bloody hell have they been waiting for? Why not tell me this days ago... before I made myself crazy? What were they stalling for... the point where I would consume so much ice cream that I would no longer be able to move and therefore have to fall in love and live with that person in order to talk to someone and not go insane?_

_Well... WERE THEY?_

(Or perhaps she already had, from the way Sirius was looking at her like she should be "psyhic-witch" and _know_ when people were in love with her.)

If so, bad idea, because people who are in love are not patient people.

At least, Lily was not patient. But maybe that had nothing to do with love...

"So what exacting were you all thinking in not telling me about this sooner? Did you think he would just stumble across me at some point and ask me out?" She let out a little huff and continued, though her brain was working at a rapid speed (_Did James really feel that way? What would he say to me... especially after the way I blew up at him...)_, "If you haven't noticed, I haven't talked to James in...wow...ages. You know what... I need some air. I'm going to girl's room. I will be back."

"Coming," Marcia stated as she got up to help Lily get there. Suddenly her legs were not working so well.

"So," Peter asked as Remus glanced carefully at his watch, "The plan is going well so far?"

"Well, first we have to get rid of...," Remus trailed off as Sirius poked him in the rib and motioned towards Marlene and Gilderoy, who were now making their way over to the bar.

"Why hello there," Sirius greeted them cheerfully, "What can we do for you?"

Gilderoy had the widest smile the boys had ever seen plastered on his face. Marlene just looked slightly flustered and embarassed as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Umm," she started, staring guiltily at Sirius and Remus while they noticed Gilderoy's hand on the small of her back, "Could you tell James I had to cancel our date tonight? Suddenly I'm not feeling all that well."

Sirius smiled mischeviously and looked over the pair. "Would you like one of us to help you home?"

Gilderoy's smile dropped as Sirius' widened and he managed to say, "I can get her home just fine."

Peter let out a snicker as Remus replied sweetly to the two of them, "Oh, we don't doubt you Gilderoy. And yes, Marlene, I will inform him when he gets here."

"Thank you," she responded, looking very gracious towards him. And with that, she and her companion turned swiftly to go.

"Well, they wasted no time," Sirius said with a grin.

"And you are shameless, Padfoot, when it comes to women," he stated bluntly as he watched the two grab their things and leave the pub. They quickly left towards Diagon Alley and were all smiles as they departed.

"So are they," he countered with a chuckle. "James just got stood up for a date with Gilderoy Lockhart!"

"I won't tell if you won't."

"I have two or three words for you,_ front page news_, mate. I'm in neogoiations with _The Daily Prophet_ as we speak."

"Witness?" Remus asked with a smile.

Sirius winked at the bartender and grinned, "Tom, here, is the main witness. I plan to have this all ready to go in less than twenty minutes."

"Well, then we had better go get started," Remus responded and once again glanced at his watch, "James is due here any minute."

"We don't get to stay and watch?" Sirius groaned and it was quite obvious he had had a different scenario in mind, "What about Lily?"

Peter started for the door, quickly buttoning up his cloak. "'Fraid not, Sirius."

"And besides," Remus added, "Marlene knows what to do from here. We'll go watch somewhere else now."

"Where?" Sirius asked as he notice Peter in his cloak and Remus buttoning his up at the moment. "_Outside?_ So we can freeze? No way in bloody hell! Wormtail, back me up on this!"

"Come'on Sirius," Peter called, halfway to the door by this time.

"Or else we'll send you over to the nice Weasley's home," Remus said with a wicked smile appearing on his features, "It's warm there, right?"

Sirius heaved on his jacket with a quick sigh. "Don't bother. I'm coming Moony."

At that, Remus smiled. The night was still young. And when there's time enough in the evening, something wonderful and unexpected (though completely planned out) was bound to happen to Lily…

**Author's Note:** I split this chapter in half because I thought the second half of the chapter deserved a whole chapter to itself. So stay tuned…


	18. Why Kissing is Better than Ice Cream

**_Marauders' Match-making Inc._**

**Disclaimer: **The plot of this story is loosely based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only things that belong to me are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed and the new characters that you don't recognize from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter Eighteen:** Why Kissing is Much Better than Ice Cream

Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew stood just outside the Leaky Cauldron, hoping that a certain friend of theirs would pass them by so they could finish their mischievous little operation.

At long last (in Sirius' clever opinion), he finally appeared.

"Could you have taken anymore time to get here?" Sirius asked as he shivered through his thin cloak, "If I had known you were going to take this kind of time, I would have offered to kick your arse from your house to here. Probably would have gotten you here quicker too."

"Bloody hell, Padfoot, don't be too supportive and patient," James mumbled and looked at the stem in hand to make sure the thing wasn't wilting. "You guys are the ones that told me to go out with Marlene again, so I am."

"And we are very happy that you are, James," Remus injected, pleasantly warm having thought ahead to wear a thick cloak. After all, it _was _winter.

James looked around at his impatient and freezing friends as he decided to boldly take a stand. "But I just want to let you all know not to get your hopes up or anything," he stated as clearly as he could and went on with Peter's teeth chattering in the background, "Because I'm planning on...well...telling Marlene that things are not working out tonight."

He sighed and waited for a reaction.

Nothing. He saw nothing... except maybe a faint smirk on Sirius' face.

So he felt it necessary to clarify even further.

"I just do not want to have a girlfriend or date anyone at the moment... I want to get over..._her_ first and then maybe I will consider dating again."

Once again, he looked around for facial expressions, angry words, supportive words, anything at all.

Remus seemed to catch onto the hint and responded first. "That's fine James. If it's really what you want..."

James nodded to concur.

"...Then go ahead and go in there. We just want you to...," he paused, looking for the best word to describe what he wanted to say.

"Stop moping around all the time and being a prat," Sirius said, seemingly joking.

Peter and Remus shot looks of shock at him that clearly wondered if he still had his head on straight.

"Bloody hell, that is what we want, right?"

"Sorry, James," Remus said, giving Sirius a 'be sensitive for once' glare, "I think that hit from jumping in and out of that chair earlier must have cut off the function in his brain."

James let out a short laugh as Sirius, as usual, looked insulted. "No, I get what he means. I would hope I understand the language of Sirius by now... Or else I'm doomed."

"Are you sure we all aren't doomed anyway?" Sirius asked seriously.

"I sure hope we aren't doomed," Peter said, his teeth chattering ceasing for a moment. "That would be awful."

"Padfoot, there is no way I'm having a serious conversation with you about stuff like death and doom until I'm sufficiently drunk enough to not remember the stupid things you said in the morning," Remus countered with a little smile and a sigh.

"And that is when he's at his intellectual peak, isn't it?" James joked with a smile.

"Well, you know he's at the peak of drinking," Peter laughed, "That much is certain."

James fiddled with the buttons on his cloak for a moment as he looked to his friends for support. Sirius was currently kicking around snow with an attitude while Peter resumed his chattering and Remus just smiled at James.

"Stop wasting time, Prongs. We'll see you either later or tomorrow."

"Later, I hope. That conversation about doom is starting to sound fairly intriguing compared to what I'm about to face when I go inside," he mumbled, starting for the door.

"Things aren't always what they seem," Remus stated with a smile as he started to lead Sirius away from the poor snow.

"Yeah," Sirius called and let a grin creep onto his face, "Especially when we are involved. Good luck, mate!"

"Good luck, Prongs," Peter echoed as the three started to leave.

"Yeah," James murmured. "Good luck to me."

--------------------------------------------------

"Come on, Lily," Marcia said in a knowing voice while she attempted to pull her out of the restroom, "You have to go out there eventually."

Lily pouted in strong dislike. "How do you know I won't set up camp in here and _never _come out?"

"Because _eventually_ you have to eat and I will make sure I let no one come in here to bring you food. Ever. And this means double fudge ice cream."

Lily just looked at her without a word for a moment.

"Wow. What a nice friend I have. I'm glad I'm friends with _you_," she responded finally.

"I am a good friend," Marcia stated with a smile. "Because I'm making you face the facts. Don't you get it? James is still in love with you. And you're still in love with him. Please tell me where the problem is because I'm totally not seeing it."

"How do I tell him?" Lily blurted out, getting the urge to take it back as soon as she had uttered the phrase. "How do I explain to him how I feel? I mean, he won't doubt me, right? Especially after the way I blew up at him after that one night… And I haven't talked to him since… Oh… I'm just so _confused_."

"I don't know… You just say it." Marcia had a mixed look of passion and easiness as she went on. "You open up your heart to him and hope he doesn't smash it to pieces."

At that point, Lily appeared horrified.

"Not…that…_he_, James, would do that," she said completely flustered by the topic and her blunder, "He loves you to… So that won't happen. Probably."

"You are making a move to the convent sound more and more pleasing every time you talk," Lily replied with a groaned.

Marcia looked around at the bathroom and sighed. This really was not the type of place she ever imagined having, or wanted to ever again have this conversation. It was like talking about the subject of where babies come from with your parents at a very public dinner party or in front of your friends. Or having this conversation with parents at any point in time. She thought about her past experiences with this… and wished to forget them.

"Well, then you had better go talk to him before I get that idea plastered into your mind for good. I don't want to have to come visit you in a convent… They look uncomfortable to me."

Lily laughed her nervous laugh again and accompanied it with a smile.

Maybe it was time to head for the door before this conversation proceeded to carry on about the ups and downs of convent life.

"So are you going out there then?" Marcia questioned her, "Before…uh, never mind."

"Okay, then." Lily laughed, just to take her mind off of James. "Go ahead and conceal your little secret. I'll just assume that it's about your plan to join a convent."

"Or not," Marcia countered looking annoyed, "Go find your James."

"Only he's not my James, yet…," Lily murmured as she closed the door of the bathroom and went out to grab her coat and go to James' flat.

But as the door closed behind her, Lily felt a sense of calmness. So she was telling James her feelings… If he didn't feel the same way, that was not necessarily the end of the world. It just meant she would have to keep searching for her, well if you want to coin it that way, her _soul mate_. And for that she could always rely on Sirius' crazy matchmaking skills. But she would worry about that later.

She turned to the stools near her and reached for her coat.

"Done with your drink, Lily?" Tom, the bartender, asked her as he stretched out to grab it.

"Yeah," she said, barely being heard, "I think so."

The doubt was creeping back in again…

"Well, then 'ave a good night."

"I'll be sure to try to, Tom," she replied with a slightly nervous smile.

She twirled around and made for the door as quickly as she could. She had to get to James and tell him of her feelings for him before she lost her nerve, which no doubt, would happen soon enough.

Or as soon as she reached James' doorstep.

Whichever happened to come first…

Lily was just about to open the door when it went ahead and opened, clearly from someone pushing it on the other side, which caused her to stumble.

James looked shocked as he stood over a figure with long red hair. Assuming it was Marlene, he rushed forward to help her to her feet.

"I'm terribly sorry. Are you alright?"

He heard a sigh as she stood up to brush off her coat and caught a glimpse of her face.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just--"

She nearly fell over again as she realized it was James.

In the flesh.

In front of her.

Not a dream... _This wasn't a dream right?_ If she hadn't been of right mind, she might have been bold enough to pinch herself just to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"Lily?" He looked and sounded almost as shocked as he felt.

The irony of all ironies. His meeting Lily just as he was about to break things off with Marlene...

Fate was cruel in that way, wasn't it?

"Hi, James," she said with a nervous smile and a desperate attempt to keep her dignity, "Fancy meeting you here."

"Yeah…," he mumbled, looking down at his feet for a moment. For a person who was usually so arrogant, he had become fairly subdued and shy at the moment. It was like seeing Sirius act like a normal person.

Slightly terrifying.

"I…," A look of realization came upon him, "I never did get to apologize for how I acted a few weeks ago. You know, with your dates and everything."

Lily opened her mouth to speak and reassure him that it was alright, but he held up his hand for her to let him finish.

"I… I know I was, well, wrong for doing it and I just want you to know… I'm not going to bother you again. I'll just let you choose your own people to date," he went on, suddenly coming back into his usual mannerisms, "Even if they are…a…little sketchy."

Lily almost had the urge to smile and laugh at his choice of words.

Sketchy?

What, was she dating a bunch of convicts?

"So, I just wanted you to know that," he concluded, looking quite miserable because what he had just said to her was _so far_ from what he really wanted to say to her.

"Okay."

As soon as that word popped out of her mouth, Lily felt so insanely stupid.

_She really couldn't have thought of anything better to say?_ Maybe something like, 'Of course, but that really doesn't matter because I love you anyway.' Or she could have just kissed him.

But that seemed stupid too… and very cliché. Did people really go up and kiss other people in anything that wasn't a story or muggle television program? In real life?

She didn't know. All she knew was that she could not get the words out that were stuck in her throat and it was killing her. Why couldn't she just say what she wanted to say? Did it really have to take this long to admit it? WHAT WAS WRONG WITH HER?

"Well, okay then," James said, a disappointed look on his face, "I guess I'd better head off to my table. I have to meet someone."

"Okay," she reiterated lamely.

Was that all she could say? Since when had she become this life-less, robotic person around him? She had always felt comfortable around him. Why now, when she had finally figured out that she felt something for him could she not get the gull to show it, say it… Something! Anything…

He lingered there a moment longer, only long enough for Lily to catch a glimpse of the forgotten rose clutched carefully in his hand.

"Marlene's not here," she stated, feeling quite stupid at her desperation to make conversation.

"She's not?" He mumbled, and instantly felt terrible for not caring so much.

He was in front of the girl who still made him feel nervous around her. Not caring was to be expected.

"No," Lily said with a small smile as she started to come back to normality. "She left with Gilderoy Lockhart about half an hour ago."

"Really?"

James was surprised Lily was even acknowledging him because after all, she hadn't spoken to him in weeks. Why would she start now? Well... even though he was trying to get over her, he might as well act normal so she didn't suspect anything. Right?

"Yes," Lily said with a faint smile, "And I'm sorry to say that she looked like she liked him. A lot."

Well, it didn't hurt to clarify the situation, did it?

Besides, Sirius _had _said that James and Marlene were not that serious anyway...

"Wow. Sirius will have a field day with this one."

He shook his head with the funny grin on his face as Lily eagerly continued the conversation.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, just the fact that I got stood up by someone for Gilderoy Lockhart alone is embarrassing enough," he said with a laugh, "But adding in the fact that he and Remus made me come on this date just adds to the shame."

Lily smiled as realized this was a work of the boys. Sirius, Remus, Peter... They had set them up. How could she have been so stupid to not realize this before?

_So he didn't feel anything for Marlene…_

"Well…," Lily trailed off. She was attempting to come up with more to say when she spotted what was delicately being held in James' hand.

"Who is the rose for?"

She could have guessed who it was for, but she didn't want to put herself though that kind of pain. It could be for Marlene… or any other _number_ of girls who probably fawned over James at every waking hour.

Or was that taking it too far?

James smiled. He had a rose and no one to give it to.

You connect the dots.

And even if she didn't love him, he wanted to remain friends, at the very least

_After all,_ he thought miserably, _I've managed to be friends with her for years after our break-up._

"You."

He stated that with such conviction and one of those shy but charming smiles that James always showed off when he was feeling particularly nervous… And Lily felt so touched. Like it was the first time she was talking to James and butterflies were fluttering through her stomach as if they were looking for an escape root. She couldn't describe the crazy, insane, thrilling ecstasy she felt.

And to think, a rose that was glowing the most perfect shade of red she had ever seen…caused all this.

"Thank you," she said with a quiet tone and reserved smile.

She was not quite sure… Should she tell him?

_Oh bloody hell,_ she decided_, I'll just go for it already._

"I'm sorry," she blurted out.

_HEY! That wasn't the declaration of love I THOUGHT was going to come out!_

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

What was this? Was she the 'I'm sorry' bear you could find at your local muggle card store?

Just get on with it already, her conscience screamed.

"I know I, well, basically shunned you after the 'Benjy incident' or whatever you would like to call it… And I was wrong for doing so. You were right. Benjy was a prat and like a good friend, you tried to help me figure that out… So, I want you to know that I'm sorry. And... I hope you can forgive me."

James smiled nervously and sat down on the bar stool next to where Lily was standing. "I was just afraid you were never going to speak to me again. I maybe should have picked a better way to get you to realize it though."

"Maybe," Lily replied, sitting down as well and letting a simple smile creep onto her face.

So now they were friends again. But was that how Lily really wanted it?

She opened her mouth to say something more but then shut it instinctively. She didn't want to sound stupid or cheesy when she said this.

James, in his own nervousness, noticed her hesitation and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No," she responded, shaking her head, "I just..."

She paused for a moment to reassess her thoughts but it was no use. She decided to come right out and say exactly what see was thinking at that moment. "What would you do if I kissed you right now?"

James' heart skipped a beat. He brought his hopeful eyes up to meet hers. "And why would you do that, Lil?"

She looked into his hazel eyes and smiled.

Was he really asking her this question?

"Because I think I'm falling in love with you."

_Finally_, she thought,_ I have some nerve._

He grinned at her in a mixture of happiness and disbelief.

"What would you do if I kissed you first?"

Lily giggled at the sheer stupidity of this conversation and replied smartly, "I'd kiss you back."

"Well, then I'm glad it's settled then," he added as his face came closer to hers.

And when they kissed, Lily had to admit… It most definitely beat eating ice cream any day.


	19. The Perks of Being a Matchmaker

**_Marauders' Match-making Inc._**

**Hey… This is the end! I know this is a short chapter (or more of an afterword, if you really think about it) but I couldn't leave it at that. That's just so... not in my nature to do that. So here's a wrap-up chapter.**

**Dedication: This story is for all of my friends and faithful reviewers at the HP boards and here at ffnet. EVERYONE! I won't start naming names in fear of forgetting someone. Without you all, this story would not exist. Thanks for all of your inspiration, support, and patience (because you all now know from experience that I stink at updating my stories! --UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY! watches as everyone nods and groans like they want to strangle me) So...just... Thank you. And hopefully I'll come up with another story soon that I love writing as much as this one so then you all can experience my love of procastination again. LoL. I've probably scared you all off by now.**

**But in short: Thank you and good night. : )**

**-Kait**

**Disclaimer:**The plot of this story is loosely based on the ABC Family movie, "See Jane Date." The characters are property of J.K. Rowling. The only things that belong to me are the changes I made to the plot I borrowed and the new characters that you don't recognize from the Harry Potter books. Is that alright with you then?

**Chapter Nineteen:** The Perks of Being a Match-maker...

"So, when did you realize that you loved me?" Lily asked while she giggled at James' facial expression.

Pure horror.

"I'm not at liberty to say," he responded, recovering nicely as he spooned more ice cream into his mouth.

They were currently sitting in the living room of Lily's apartment, watching a muggle television show. James felt at peace, somehow. Just happy to be alive and be with Lily.

And frankly, he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Yes you are," she said with a laugh. She reached over to the ice cream carton and got herself a spoonful of double fudge. After finishing the spoonful, she rested her head on his shoulder and was surprised at how comfortable she felt with him. Wasn't it about 3 and a half months ago that she doing the same thing with James? Only then, she was not able to put her head on his shoulder without feeling awkward.

"I don't know," he stated, looking down at her resting form and softly brushing away some of the hair that was in her eyes, "Maybe as early as the first time I saw you."

"Really? So what about the first you talked to me?"

Lily smiled lightly as she started to drift off into a semi-unconconcious state.

James' shoulder sure was a nice place to rest on after a long day of work at the Ministry.

Too bad she hadn't made the revelation sooner...

"I think you put a hex on me for hexing Sirius, but I could be wrong."

He grinned as he waited for Lily to respond and stared at the muggle show on the screen. "Hmmm," was her big response.

"Is life always like that, Daddy?" asked the little blond boy on the screen as the camera panned over to his smiling father's face.

"Yeah, son. When you find someone or something you love, life is always like that. It's like getting to eat ice cream everyday."

"So can I?"

"No," the father answered, shaking his head, "But you can always dream."

James shifted his glance back to Lily as he felt her head start to slip off his shoulder. He carefully put the spoons in the carton, the lid on the ice cream and turned the television off as quietly as he could, hoping he wouldn't wake her.

He let her rest in his arms as let himself start to drift off to sleep.

He didn't think he or Lily would need the ice cream in the morning (according to the muggle television show), so let it melt...

But as he started to slip into the blissful sleep that Lily had there was some kind of knock at the window...

_Let it go_, he thought, _They'll__ still be there in the morning_.

* * *

And Sirius, Peter and Remus felt very perturbed as they threw rocks up at Lily's apartment window with their wands, wanting to talk to James. What was wrong with them? Could they not hear? 

"Maybe if we throw up a really big rock... Maybe then they'll hear us," Sirius contemplated, looking at the boulders on the side of the apartment building.

"And then call the muggle police because there is a bunch of prats throwing large rocks at the building and breaking windows," Remus replied, looking at Sirius like he was nuts.

"Hey, I'll do anything for fun," Sirus stated loudly as Peter laughed at the scene in front of him.

"Tell me something I don't know," Remus said wearily with a sigh.

The three friends stood there for a minute, discussing what they should do while Remus tried to ignore more of Sirius' 'ingenious' ideas. Why couldn't they be heard? Were they being ignored? If so, Lily and James had no right to ignore them.

After all, being the match-makers had to count for _something_...

**_-The End-_**

**(I only added that because people keep sending me reviews telling me to finish this. This is the end. I swear.)**


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